{"id":60758,"date":"2025-12-12T11:16:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/for-2-hours-a-soccer-match-offers-palestinians-a-rarity-joy\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T11:16:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:16:27","slug":"for-2-hours-a-soccer-match-offers-palestinians-a-rarity-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/for-2-hours-a-soccer-match-offers-palestinians-a-rarity-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"For 2 Hours, a Soccer Match Offers Palestinians a Rarity: Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">The Palestinians needed a win.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">Not on the battlefield, or at the United Nations, or in The Hague \u2014 but on the soccer field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">For the first time, the Palestinian national soccer team had made it into the quarterfinals of the Arab Cup, a regional tournament dating back to 1963.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">And on Thursday night, in packed cafes in Cairo, restaurants in Ramallah in the West Bank, hookah bars in Arab towns in Israel and even tents in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, Palestinians were out together, riding the emotional roller coaster of watching their team fight for its survival against an opponent with a much stronger record.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">For many watching the game, the parallels with other struggles were inescapable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">\u201cWe didn\u2019t win the war, but maybe we can win the match,\u201d said Muhammad Abu Erjaila, 24, a Palestinian from Gaza now living in Cairo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">In Gaza, nearly 50 men, teenagers and boys made their way through a stormy night and muddy, flooded streets to a makeshift cafe in a tent on the outskirts of Khan Younis, where a technician worked frantically to get the game\u2019s livestream playing on a big TV powered by solar panels and batteries, and the cafe\u2019s owner fed cardboard boxes and paper scraps into a fire to make hot drinks and heat the room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">Ismail Nasser al-Din, 20, sat dripping wet, clutching a Palestinian flag. He said he had lost his brother, a cousin and a friend in the war. \u201cI hope our team will win,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need any reason to laugh, enjoy and get some relief.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">Ibrahim Abu Mosabeh, 67, from eastern Khan Younis, watched with a quiet intensity. A former builder who once worked in Israel, he said he had lost more than 30 members of his extended family in the two years of fighting that began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. That attack killed about 1,200 people and prompted a devastating Israeli response that left much of Gaza\u2019s infrastructure in ruins and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">\u201cI am here to disconnect from our miserable life,\u201d Mr. Abu Mosabeh said. \u201cI want to see the joy in our faces after two years of suffering and displacement.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">In Ramallah, scores of people crowded into Maramia, a restaurant in an upscale mall, including some who said they had never paid much attention to soccer before.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">\u201cIt feels good to have a different reason for stressing out, to be able to stress out over your national team like the rest of the world,\u201d said Mahmoud Erekat, 27. \u201cThis is a feeling that Palestinians truly miss and need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">A victory didn\u2019t seem out of reach. The Palestinian squad had stunned the host team, Qatar, 1-0 in its first game. After tying Tunisia, all it needed was another draw with Syria to have enough points to make it out of group play and into the knockout round.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">Sunday\u2019s group play match with Syria \u2014 which, like the Palestinian team, was buoyed by an underdog national narrative and needed only a tie to advance \u2014 wasn\u2019t exactly hard-fought. Few were shocked at the 0-0 result, or at the scene as the two teams celebrated together afterward, though some soccer purists cried foul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">The team\u2019s continued celebration after the Syria match, however, led to some controversy, after several videos surfaced online that appeared to show a star Palestinian player exulting while singing along to songs glorifying <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/10\/17\/world\/middleeast\/yahya-sinwar-dead.html\" title=\"\">Yahya Sinwar<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/30\/obituaries\/muhammad-deif-hamas-dead.html\" title=\"\">Muhammad Deif<\/a>, two Hamas leaders killed by Israel in the Gaza war. The videos prompted Palestinian officials to chastise anyone seeking to politicize the soccer team\u2019s run in the tournament.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">The unlikely run by Syria ended with a loss to Morocco earlier on Thursday. And Palestine\u2019s Cinderella story was also at risk of an unhappy ending: Its quarterfinal opponent was Saudi Arabia, whose team, unlike Palestine\u2019s, is headed to the World Cup next year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">The knockout-round matchup had set off speculation about a different possible plot twist: Last week, the Saudi government delivered <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.com\/node\/2624657\/middle-east\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">$90 million in much-needed financial support<\/a> for the Palestinian Authority, which administers large parts of the West Bank. So no one should be surprised, people joked, if the Palestinian players took a nap on the field on Thursday and let Saudi Arabia win.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">They did no such thing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">Instead, the Palestinians lived up to their nickname, the Fedayei \u2014 which translates loosely as \u201cpatriots willing to sacrifice for the cause\u201d \u2014 by scrapping, shoving and frequently fouling their way to parity with the Saudis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">At the sprawling Piatto Caf\u00e9 in Cairo, which has become popular with refugees from Gaza, each save by the Palestinian goalie set off whistles, cheers and chants of \u201cYou\u2019re a hero!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">\u201cFor the first time in our lives, we\u2019re happy!\u201d Mr. Abu Erjaila said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">At halftime, with the score tied at zero, fans in Ramallah linked arms to dance the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/06\/04\/arts\/dance\/zvidance-in-dabke-and-coupling-at-new-york-live-arts.html\" title=\"\">dabke<\/a>, a traditional Levantine folk dance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">For the Palestinian people writ large \u2014 Gazans, West Bankers, Jerusalemites and Arab citizens of Israel \u2014 uplifting moments of national unity rarely come along.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">But for two hours on Thursday, soccer provided one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">Haneen Thaher, 38, had come to Maramia, the Ramallah restaurant, for dinner with friends, not to watch the game. But she found herself unable to tear herself away from it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">\u201cWhat kept me was this communal sense of joy and unity among the people,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve felt this \u2014 being part of something bigger that was not sorrow \u2014 in a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">In a cafe in Kfar Qassem, a largely Arab town north of Tel Aviv in Israel, one TV showed the Palestine-Saudi Arabia match, and another showed a game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Stuttgart.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">\u201cThis is coexistence,\u201d Muhammad Taha, 28, joked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">He is related to Ahmed Taha, a player from Kfar Qassem who was denounced by many Israelis after he agreed to play for the Palestinian national team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">Saed Issa, 50, said he hadn\u2019t cared much about the Palestinian team until that fracas. \u201cBut after the campaign against Ahmed and the incitement,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019ve been rooting for the Palestinian team as if it were my local one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">Thursday\u2019s match with Saudi Arabia was closely fought and thrilling, with the Saudis scoring first, on a penalty kick, and the Palestinians tying it up minutes later on a picture-perfect play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">In the tent in Khan Younis, the crowd erupted in joy, leaping from chairs, clapping and chanting \u201cFedayei!\u201d and \u201cGod is great!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">Only in the waning minutes of overtime did Saudi Arabia score the winning goal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-ac37hb evys1bk0\">Mohammad al-Qutati, heading back out into the rain and mud in Gaza, shrugged. \u201cThey scored that goal in an amazing way,\u201d he said of the Palestinian evener. \u201cAnd that was enough for me to feel so good, for nearly two hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Iyad Abuheweila<!-- --> contributed reporting from Cairo, and <!-- -->Johnatan Reiss<!-- --> from Kfar Qassem, Israel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/12\/world\/middleeast\/palestine-soccer-saudi-arabia-arab-cup.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Palestinians needed a win. Not on the battlefield, or at the United Nations, or in The Hague \u2014 but<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[89,98,99,544,96,430,541],"class_list":["post-60758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-gaza-strip","tag-international-relations","tag-israel","tag-middle-east","tag-palestinians","tag-ramallah-west-bank","tag-soccer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>For 2 Hours, a Soccer Match Offers Palestinians a Rarity: Joy - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/for-2-hours-a-soccer-match-offers-palestinians-a-rarity-joy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For 2 Hours, a Soccer Match Offers Palestinians a Rarity: Joy - World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Palestinians needed a win. 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