Historically, states perceive sports as an influential foreign policy tool to project their national image on the global stage or to pacify rivalries through cooperation over low-political issues leading toward political cooperation. Once again, the power of football as “more than a sporting event” has been displayed on the big stage of the Qatar World Cup 2022.
This World Cup is a unique event by nature, as the first of its kind in an Arab country. Qatar, being at the centre of the Middle East, is geographically and logistically more accessible for the region. Therefore, the Palestinians took center stage and united the Arabs in an enjoyable and celebratory atmosphere to stand for the Palestinian causes.
The unique characteristic of this World Cup has nothing to do with football but the dominant presence of a non-qualifying state, Palestine. The vibrant presence of Palestinian causes has convinced the journalists to pay an honorable mention to Palestine as the 33rd playing team at the tournament, even though Palestine never qualified for the World Cup.
The abundant number of Palestinian flags hoisted on the buildings in Doha, seeing the team fans wearing bracelets and armbands in Palestinian flag colours and with signs reading “Gaza is in our hearts,” hearing fans chanting “Free Palestine” slogans at the stadium, streets, and city squares in Doha, and teams celebrating victory with Palestinian flags mark the victorious presence of Palestinian causes on this global stage. Moroccan Fans were heard singing the famous Rajawi Chant:
“Our heart is sad for you
Our eyes have been tearing for you for years,
Oh beloved Palestine
Where are the Arabs? They are sleeping
Oh, the most beautiful of all countries, resist
May God protect you…”
The host country, Qatar, gave Mahmud Abbas a seat of honor, and the Qataris extensively supported the Palestinian causes all over the 2022 World Cup. Not only the Arabs but also team fans from all over the world were happy to accept and wave Palestinian flags inside and outside of the stadium and support the Palestinian narrative. Major US media outlets, including Washington Post and New York Times, have also featured this solidarity.
Gradually the hard work of Palestinians started paying off, which began weeks before the World Cup. The agenda of presenting the Palestinian narrative on the big stage was set well in advance. Palestinians called on several social media campaigns before the World Cup to raise international awareness of Palestine by cheering for Palestine at the stadium and encouraging vendors to sell Palestinian flags and souvenirs.
The Palestinians perceive this prominent presence of Pro-Palestine solidarity in the World Cup, gathering of team fans waving Palestinian flags, and refusal of Arabs to be interviewed by Israeli journalists as a failure of Abraham Accords, which normalized Israel's diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan and a clear victory of Palestinian causes over Israeli act of aggression. And this success will eventually encourage them to organize more international campaigns supporting the Palestinian narrative.
Palestine wins this Qatar World Cup, clearly, but to what extent remains unresolved. Undoubtedly, the World Cup has raised international awareness for Palestine, but this is not the first time that the Palestine cause is getting worldwide attention and sympathy. In fact, it has garnered more international awareness than any other case over a longer period of time, but nothing has changed until today. These awareness campaigns may give a feeling of hope to the Palestinians, but fail to protect them from continuous Israeli aggression. Even their alleged killing of Palestinians continued amidst the protests at the World Cup stage.
Similarly, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement took place against Israel for decades. Still, it failed to convince global companies to divest from Israel or to sever ties with Israel, and now Israel has diplomatic relations with over 160 countries, including 6 Arab League members.
With the end of the Qatar World Cup, everything will remain the same as before, and the Palestinian tragedy will be continued. Palestinians will remain stateless in their own land and continue suffering decades-long agony and oppression, but still, the Israelis will fly to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Rabat, and Manama. Israeli businessmen will have special visas to Saudi Arabia, and the diamond traders will land in Doha. The people of this region will continue hoisting the Palestinian flag, but the Palestinians won't be able to hoist their flag in their own independent state.
Given the situation, hoisting Palestinian flags and chanting “Free Palestine” at the stadium carry no meaning to the reality the Palestinians face every day until any real solution comes out. These protests must be heard by the policymakers who can initiate efficient actions to have a meaningful contribution toward the betterment of the fortune of the Palestinians.
To be heard by the policymakers and compel the government, they need a government of the people who will respond to the popular demand. This is all what the Arabs lack currently, and therefore their protests and pro-Palestine solidarity campaigns are in no way going to bring fruitful change in the near future.
Md Mahbubur Rahman is an International Relations student and Foreign Policy Associate.
