Palestine has already won the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. They score in the hearts and minds of fans all over the world.
Many Palestinian flags, Palestinian arm bands and bracelets can be seen, and “Free Palestine” chants can be heard in stadiums, fan zones, on the streets, and on social media. One might think that Palestine is one of the 32 countries participating in this World Cup. Some Latin American media have described Palestine as the “33rd country” in the tournament.
The Palestinian national team doesn’t play, so why is Palestine so ubiquitous?
Because the World Cup is more than just a sport. It is a great gathering of people from all over the world to share their passion for football and celebrate diversity and human unity.
This year’s World Cup is the first to be held in an Arab country. So, it is more accessible than the last World Cup – geographically, logistically, culturally – to people from the region. It has provided space for people from the area to gather on a large scale without the usual fear of repression.
As a result, Palestine automatically took center stage, uniting the Arabs in a jubilant and celebratory atmosphere and reiterating their commitment to the Palestinian cause.
Free Palestine!
In this rare Arab vox populi moment, supporting Palestine seems like an expression of independence, a symbol of resistance not only to the continued occupation of Palestine, but also to the neo-colonial order of oppressive Arab regimes. It brings back memories of the powerful moments of revolutionary efforts more than a decade ago when Arabs raised the flag of Palestine and chanted “Free Palestine” along with their demands for freedom and dignity.
In fact, the Palestinian flag is a sign of Arab political agency and is a regular feature in the stands at football matches.
We saw a large Palestinian flag at the Tunisia-Australia match on November 26 and the Morocco-Belgium match a day later. The giant flag kept coming back in subsequent races.
During the Tunisia-France match, a Tunisian fan waving a Palestinian flag ran onto the field and was forcibly removed by security personnel.
Morocco’s players hoisted the Palestinian flag on the pitch to celebrate defeating Canada, reaching the round of 16 and then qualifying for the quarter-finals with a historic win over Spain.
Moroccan worshipers celebrate at Doha’s iconic Souq Waqif and chant the famous Rajavi chant:
Our hearts go out to you.
For years our eyes tear for you.
Dear Palestine
Where are the Arabs, they are sleeping.
Oh, fairest of all countries, defend
God save you…
Many matches have also seen Palestinian flags raised in the 48th minute to remind the world of the Nakba (catastrophe) experienced in 1948 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled and made refugees for life.
But Arabs are not the only ones who support Palestine.
“Free Palestine, Free Palestine”, Brazil fans were heard chanting in the Doha Metro as they headed into the match once morest Cameroon. Fans from all over the world were delighted to receive and wave the Palestinian flags provided by the Palestinians on the streets of Doha.
When generalization fails
Although Israel and Qatar do not have formal diplomatic relations, Israeli media and citizens were allowed to attend the World Cup at FIFA’s request. The Israeli government may have seen the tournament as an incredible opportunity to once once more prove that it might overcome the decades-old Arab policy of non-engagement with the Israeli colonial regime. But it wasn’t like that.
The fans completely rejected the Israeli media. Dozens of viral videos are circulating on social media showing Israelis trying to talk to fans and failing miserably. Lebanese, Saudi, Moroccan, Egyptian, Jordanian, Qatari, Yemeni, Tunisian, Palestinian, Japanese, Brazilian, Iranian and other fans have also been caught on camera refusing to engage.
“You are not welcome here”, a Saudi Arabian fan tells an Israeli journalist in a video. “Even though it is Qatar, it is still our country. There is no Israel, only Palestine.”
In another video, a few England fans line up behind an Israeli reporter who seems ready to speak. He asked them “Is it coming home?” “Coming home” they replied. “But more importantly Free Palestine!” One of them shouts into the microphone before they leave.
Apparently, it got so bad for Israeli media that some of its reporters started pretending to be from other countries like Portugal, Germany and Ecuador. Others continued to try.
“We have peace, don’t we? You signed the peace agreement, you signed the peace agreement,” said an Israeli journalist who desperately tried to get Moroccan fans to talk to him. As they marched, they shouted: “Palestine, no Israel.”
In 2020, Morocco signed agreements to normalize diplomatic relations with Bahrain, the UAE and Sudan. It allowed Israelis to travel to the UAE – among others – where they had a warm welcome. This experience may have misled them into thinking they would be welcome in the field, but they are not.
Israeli media are busy talking regarding how unwelcome Israelis feel in Qatar, who are kicked out of restaurants and taxis for even claiming to be from Israel. There seems to be a growing realization in Israel that normalization efforts are not as successful as they thought.
Arabs have always known this: normalization and peace agreements are only valid on paper with governments that do not represent the people. Their hearts will remain with Palestine until the Palestinians are free, and that will only happen when the rest of the region is free.
The survival of the Israeli apartheid state is fundamentally dependent on totalitarian anti-democratic regimes that turn a deaf ear to the voices of their people for freedom in all matters, including Palestine.
A successful boycott
Viral videos of Israeli misbehavior at the World Cup seem to have backfired. Israeli diplomats expressed displeasure at how Israeli citizens were treated and called on FIFA and Qatar to ensure the safety and comfort of journalists.
Complaints have been met with derision from the Israeli media, pointing to a long list of Palestinian journalists who have been targeted, arrested and killed by Israel, including Al Jazeera’s reporter Shirin Abu Akle.
This ever-growing strong Palestinian presence at the World Cup serves as a reminder to the global community that the situation in Palestine is intolerable and cannot be ignored. As the World Cup progresses, Palestinians are killed, fled, deported, threatened, and arrested with no solution on the horizon. A coalition of far-right parties has taken over the Israeli government, threatening further discrimination once morest the Palestinians.
In the World Cup, Palestinians also saw an opportunity to strengthen their Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. While Ukraine and its supporters have pushed FIFA and UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) to ban the Russian national team and football clubs from competing in their tournaments over the Russian occupation, Palestinian efforts to get the same treatment for Israel over its occupation of Palestinian land have so far failed.
Yet, the Palestinians and their allies succeeded in staging this boycott at FIFA’s biggest event in their own way: from the bottom up. It remains to be seen how this strong show of solidarity will translate into political action, and this World Cup will surely be remembered for a clear historic victory: Palestine vs. Israel 1-0.
Credit: Al Jazeera / Translation: Afzal Rahman
