Palestinians today thanked the support of the Moroccan team for their cause during the World Cup in Qatarwith a notable presence of the Palestinian flag in matches among both fans and players.
“The World Cup reveals the lie that the Palestinian cause has been buried by the recent normalization agreements,” said the head of the Palestinian Football FederationJibril Rajoub, who is also general secretary of Fatah, the party of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.
After the Emirates and Bahrain, Morocco re-established full diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020, by virtue of the Abraham Accords, but that hasn’t stopped their players and fans from expressing their allegiance to Palestine during the decade-long conflict.
Morocco and Palestine: united in football
Rajoub described it as “a slap in the face of the idea of normalization” the general support for the Palestinians seen at the World Cup in Qatarincluding Moroccan gestures and widespread expressions of Palestinian solidarity at the event, especially among Arab fans.
The same Moroccan team displayed a Palestinian flag on the pitch after eliminating Spain on 6 December and also after beating Canada in the group stage, while some players posted messages of support for the Palestinians on their social networks.
PPalestinians both in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Gaza followed the matches of the Moroccan national team with devotion and fervorthe first Arab nation to reach a World Cup semi-final.
The Moroccan team’s shirts, in fact, have sold out in recent days in sports shops in the main Palestinian cities.
“The overwhelming majority of Palestinians say they have now regained much, or part, of their lost trust in Arab peoples in light of solidarity with Palestine. expressed by fans during soccer matches,” says an opinion poll released this week by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Polls.
The ardent Arab fans at the Qatar 2022 World Cup
Alongside the support for Palestine, the league also saw how Arab fans scolded and even insulted Israeli fans who came to watch the World Cup or Israeli journalists covering the event.
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.