AA / Zain Khalil
Ofer Cassif, a member of the Israeli parliament, on Monday evening criticized statements by journalists from his country regarding human rights in Qatar, calling them “hypocritical”.
This is what emerges from the intervention of Ofer Cassif, a left-wing MK who represents the Hadash party in the Hadash-Ta’al coalition (5 seats out of 120 in the Knesset), during the plenary session of the Knesset , according to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
Indeed, Israeli journalists, some of whom cover the events of the FIFA World Cup, have in recent days denounced human rights violations in Qatar, which hosts the World Cup between 20 November and 18 december.
Criticizing these journalists, Cassif said, “There is great hypocrisy in their words. Where we live, there is a (Palestinian) people suffering under the yoke of a violent and murderous occupation.” You have to fight here for human rights before you fight abroad.”
Qatar is the first Arab and Muslim country in the Middle East to host the World Cup, which is attended by 32 national teams and is the most significant event in the world of football.
From the rostrum of the Knesset, in Arabic, MK Ahmed Tibi, chairman of the Hadash-Ta’al coalition parliamentary bloc, said: “Imagine the World Cup being played in the United States, the world everyone would applaud, even if the United States is responsible for the death of a million Iraqis during the war in Iraq (which began in 2003).
And to continue: “Get rid of these misconceptions, because this country (Qatar) is the Arab country which organized the best World Cup in history.”
MK Tali Gottlieb of the Likud party (right – 32 seats) attacked Tibi for speaking in Arabic, to which the latter replied: “Even if I spoke in Hebrew, you wouldn’t understand”.
On Saturday, Colombian singer Maluma, who took part in the official song of the Qatar World Cup, withdrew from a television interview with Israel’s official channel “Kan”, calling the journalist “ill-mannered”.
Channel reporter Moav Vardi, who covers the World Cup, asked Maluma to explain why he took part in the song despite reports of alleged human rights abuses in Qatar.
Maluma replied: “I only came here to enjoy life and football, that’s something I don’t have to meddle in.”
The Israeli journalist, however, returned to the charge and asked him: “But are you ready to understand the people who say that your presence here has made it possible to whitewash the image of Qatar?”
The Colombian singer then decided to leave the studio, prompting Vardy to ask him, “What’s the matter?”, to which Maluma replied, “You’re badly brought up!”.
There are no official diplomatic relations between Qatar and Israel, while Tel Aviv has established relations with 6 of the 22 Arab countries, namely Egypt, Jordan, Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. .
*Translated from Arabic by Mourad Belhaj
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