Mohammed Awni Abu Oun
Since the Israeli occupation of the land of Palestine in 1948, the Palestinian cause has been the most prominent cause on the international arena. It has remained trapped, lack of solutions until this day, and an eternal standard to measure the humanitarian dimension and common sense of countries, nations and governments in dealing with it, as it is the most equitable cause between a nation under occupation and an army practicing occupation.
Despite the old age of the Palestinian cause, all attempts of obliteration have failed, as the Palestinian cause has maintained its international presence in accordance to the international developments and circumstances. In latest years, the Palestinian cause underwent a difficult juncture in light of the serious wave of normalization with the Israeli occupation and the absolute American support that started during the administration of the US President Donald Trump and extended to the current period of Biden.
The reality of the scene, however, was quickly exposed with the start of the most essential global event, represented in the World Cup 2022 in Qatar, which witnessed a real phase of solidarity and support to the Palestinian cause and revealed the gap between the official stances of the countries that are in line with the Israeli occupation and its projects, and among the nations' positions that are biased to the Palestinian cause, owner of right and justice.
The scenes of solidarity drawn by the crowds participating in the World Cup have varied. Nonetheless, the most prominent of which is the presence of the Palestinian flag in all matches, even those that were free from the participation of Arabic teams. This indicates that the size of solidarity has surpassed the idea of Islamic and Arabic nationalism to the idea of humanity, and extended outside the playgrounds to cover streets and yards.
Outside playgrounds have witnessed various forms of solidarity rather than those inside them. They have included events representing the Palestinian heritage in terms of popular uniforms, songs, national carols and popular Dabka, which constituted a mixture between the Palestinian people and their cause in such an international event and a real opportunity to reveal the true pulse of the world nations, away from all political complexities and their governments' stances.
On the other side, participants showed a serious state of rejection against any existence presenting the occupation either officially or unofficially during the events of the World Cup. One of the most prominent features of this rejection is the audience's non-interaction with the media tools that represent the Israeli occupation and their rejection to make interviews with them, in addition to the calls of Israeli figures and journalists to leave Qatar, as they are unwelcomed among the fans of the World Cup.
The issue is not confined to nations and peoples, as a large number of players of the Arabic teams carries the Palestinian flag before or after matches. Also, Prime Minister of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović appeared while carrying the Palestinian flag.
In general, we can say that the matches of the World Cup 2022 and the solidarity events with the Palestinian people must consider the space devoted by Qatar for the freedom of expression and solidarity with Palestinians and their just cause, in a way that exposes the gap between nations' stances and their governments, and the international media organizations that are in line with the occupation and its criminal project. They also prove that the Palestinian cause is clear as a sun, and the sun cannot be covered by a sieve.