Contrary to most predictions, the Palestinian national team will play this evening (18:00) in the round of 16 of the Asian Cup - against none other than the host Qatar.
On the eve of the tournament, not many gave the Palestinians a chance to register sporting achievements, if anything - only political ones.
But against the background of "the war that Israel started in Gaza", so according to the Arab narrative, the "Fedayon" (the nickname of the team) won a lot of sympathy from the organizers and the stands - and took full advantage of the momentum.
All the Palestinian games opened with a minute's silence "in memory of the tragic loss of human life due to the ongoing situation in Palestine", and the chants of "free Palestine" were heard continuously in every game of the team, three of whose players come from Gaza, ten from the West Bank and seven from Jerusalem.
FIFA had no problem approving the Palestinians or the Qatari organizers for the political gesture, while the Israeli national team and Israeli teams were prohibited from holding a minute's silence in memory of those murdered on October 7. For example, last November, as part of the Euro 2024 qualifiers, UEFA prevented Israeli fans from entering the game Against Romania, signs of support and identification with the families of the victims of the massacre and with the abductees, on the grounds that this is a "political statement".
The Palestinian national team celebrates in Qatar, photo: Reuters
UEFA even threatened Maccabi Haifa with a financial fine after, in a game against Villarreal, the Greens held a minute's silence without permission for the murdered Israelis without mentioning the dead in Gaza.
On the other hand, FIFA or the Asian Football Confederation had no problem with the chants of "Death to Israel", which were heard in Arabic and Persian by the crowd in the match between Iran and Palestine. Among other things, with the encouragement of official representatives of the tournament's production. No violation was recorded in the match against the United Arab Emirates Palestinian of the rules after a deployment sign with the inscription "Don't normalize genocide" was raised.
It is certain that the organizers did not include under the definition "politics forbidden on the lawn" the defiant celebrations of the players of the Palestinian national team together with the fans in the stands who marked with their hands V for victory and X for the release of the prisoners from the prisons in Israel, after the "historic victory" 0:3 over Hong Kong.
Thanks to that victory, "Hafadayon" managed to advance to the round of 16, the qualification that invited them to an intriguing meeting against Qatar.
Palestine get their first-ever Asian Cup win with a 3-0 victory vs.
Hong Kong and advanced to the last 16 for the first time.
HISTORIC 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/4NY4UkF3H0
— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 23, 2024
In the midst of a campaign
Qatar is not only the host of the tournament, but also the holder of the Asian Cup, and is looking to be the first team since Japan in 2004 to successfully defend the title.
Indeed, "Al Anabi" (Bordeaux in Arabic) rose from first place at home after three victories and without conceding a goal.
On paper, Palestine doesn't stand much of a chance in tonight's game.
Football, however, will be the marginal topic on an evening where politics will once again be at the center of things.
When the players of the two national teams step onto the grass at El Beit, the stadium that hosted the opening game in the 2022 World Cup, the eyes of the world in general, and the Arabs in particular, will be more focused on the stands than on the field.
If Hamed bin Khalifa, the father of the Emir of Qatar, came to watch the match between Iran and Palestine, and was caught watching the speech of the Hamas spokesman during the game, then it is likely that a senior figure from the royal family, perhaps even Emir Tamim bin Hamed himself, will come to the stadium.
This will be a demonstration of Qatari support for the Palestinians, which will seek to transmit a message of unity and brotherhood between the parties.
The Palestinians are celebrating, photo: AFP
In addition to this, there is an attempt by the organizers to echo the show of encouragement in the stands - the calls for the liberation of Palestine alongside the waving of banners, caps and flags - for the benefit of the media coverage, mainly of the Qatari Al Jazeera, and expressions of solidarity with the residents of Gaza.
To this end, local and foreign journalists and network influencers were recruited who conducted a series of interviews with the players of the Palestine national team.
Congratulations and wishes for victory (in the tournament and in the war) flooded the social networks, expressing the identification with the "Palestinian fighting spirit" of the team.
"All the teams play to win, except for the Palestinian national team which plays to say 'I exist, I am Palestinian,'" one of the supporters of "Hepadayoun" wrote on one network and was quoted by Al Jazeera.
Every media campaign also needs a "local hero", and the one who caught most of the attention is Mohamed Salah (not Liverpool's).
Salah, a resident of the Gaza Strip, said that he lost relatives in Gaza, and after the defeat to Iran he said: "We play football for them... for Gaza... for our goal."
In the game against Hong Kong, Salah wrote the number 110 on his arm in red to mark the war days, and burst into tears after the victory.
Mohammad Salah.
He didn't stop crying, photo: Reuters
And so the Asian Cup became a political stage in relation to the crisis in Gaza, a thundering voice in the Palestinian Arab propaganda of the "Israel's war crimes" narrative, and a tool for mobilizing masses in favor of the Hamas terrorist attack and the campaign to delegitimize Israel.
Undoubtedly, FIFA's football is played on two different fields, when Israel and the Palestinians are considered, and scores an own goal when they try to separate sports and politics.
The hottest sports articles and updates at your place on Telegram
to join
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us