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"Palestine defeated Israel on the biggest stage in the world, the World Cup" - voila! FIFA World Cup

2022-12-11T10:58:13.790Z


Morocco dragged the Palestinian issue until the semi-finals and Arab solidarity infected fans from all over the world who came to the tournament and went with the flow


Morocco fans celebrate in Antwerp after qualifying for the 2022 World Cup semi-finals (Twitter)

The sensational success story of the Moroccan national team in the 2022 World Cup turns from game to game into a great success story of Palestinian advocacy.

If the victory of the Atlas Lions over Belgium in the group stage was still part of a stream of daily matches and its echoes were not heard in the distance, then the surprising eliminations of Spain and Portugal, and the promotion to the semi-finals, have already made Morocco a worldwide story.



And no one has lost sight of the fact that Moroccan players celebrate with Palestinian flags after every successful result.

Thus the sporting story of the most successful African team in the history of the World Cup, took hand in hand the Palestinian issue to the headlines in the Western world as well.



The Guardian told tens of thousands of clickers last night: "After the victories, instead of celebrating with their country's flag, the Atlas Lions preferred the flag of Palestine. They used their time on the main stage to flood the Palestinian cause."

Morocco took the Palestinian issue hand in hand, to the headlines in the Western world as well (Photo: GettyImages, Lars Baron)

As far as the organizers of the tournament in Qatar are concerned, the goal seems to have been achieved.

On the one hand, severe warnings against symbols of the LGBT community, threats to national teams unless the captains wear ribbons in the colors of the rainbow, a ban on entering stadiums for fans wearing clothing reminiscent of the community. On the other hand, the stretching of the boundaries when it comes to pro-Palestinian symbols. Already in the opening game of the World Cup, the captain of the Qatar



team , Hassan Al Haydos, posed with a captain's headband designed after the Palestinian flag "to express support for the Palestinian people, in front of the whole world." He later changed the headband due to FIFA's ban on political symbols, but the message got through and in retrospect it was the hint of things to come.



If Qatar does not try to hide its long-standing financial support for Hamas, it certainly will not act to eradicate the massive support of Palestine.

On the contrary, she will feed him.

From the first moment in the World Cup, in all the games of the Arab national teams many flags of Palestine appeared and the aforementioned victories began to be celebrated with the flags of the Palestinian Authority.

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Playing with an Israeli player, celebrating with a Palestinian flag.

Al-Yamik (Photo: Reuters)

Arab solidarity was easy to ignite, but there was also a more global goal.

Suddenly there are not only reports of violations of workers' rights and the strict laws of the dark Qatar, but also a flood of the "Palestinian problem".

And it works.

Oglobo, one of the main media outlets in Brazil, called Palestine "the 33rd team in the World Cup" and enthusiastically reported on the many pro-Palestinian clothing items that are within reach for every fan who arrives in Qatar and walks around the market.



The respected German newspaper "Der Spiegel" wondered at the weekend "Is this the Arab answer to One Love?", and wrote: "While the colors of pride are prohibited in the World Cup, there are many pro-Palestinian symbols in the tournament in Qatar. The conflict in the Middle East is felt permanently in the World Cup."



The Moroccan Javad El-Yamik who plays with Sean Weissman at Real Valladolid waved a Palestinian flag followed by Ashraf Dari and others.

Yesterday it was the turn of Abdelhamid Sabiri, who after the warning victory over Portugal posted on Instagram a picture of himself wrapped in the flag of Palestine and wrote "freedom".

Not the flag of Morocco, but Palestine.

LGBT symbols no, pro-Palestinian symbols yes. An Argentinian fan (Photo: GettyImages, Dan Mullan)

The trend on the street and in the stands did not go unnoticed by fans and journalists who are not at all familiar with the issue, but were happy to swim with the Qatari current.

When an English fan stands behind an Israeli broadcaster and chants "free Palestine", and when an Argentina fan is photographed wearing a captain's armband designed after the Palestinian flag, one can understand that the goal has been achieved to some extent.



These are just examples.

The networks as well as the news agencies are full of pictures of fans of selected teams that are very far from the Middle East or North Africa, when they are decorated with pro-Palestinian items.

Maybe it's all about Qataris who wore French or Dutch shirts and waved a Palestinian scarf, but that would not come to the mind of an average surfer or reader.



"Palestine defeated Israel on the biggest football stage there is," they wrote a few days ago in "Al Jazeera" in the English language, "only the future will tell if the strong solidarity with Palestine will also translate into actions politically, but one thing is certain - this World Cup will be remembered in history thanks to one clear victory. Palestine - Israel 0:1".

  • FIFA World Cup

  • news

Tags

  • World Cup 2022

  • Palestine

  • Morocco national team

Source: walla

All news articles on 2022-12-11

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