World Soccer - UK (2019-12)

eyewitness

or Israel. The Arab kingdom and Israel

enjoy cordial relations, increasingly

aligning over mutual foe Iran, hence

there was less incentive to move the

game away from the Faisal Al Husseini

International Stadium, built next to the

Green Line and the separation wall on

the edge of East Jerusalem in Al Ram.

The stadium’s location is of great

symbolic significance as it allows the

Palestinian Football Association (PFA)

to say its national team hosts matches

in Jerusalem. In 1998, FIFA recognised

Palestine’s national team, but most Arab

teams have since refused to play in the

West Bank because access requires

Israeli permits. As a consequence,

Palestine has staged most of its home

games in Jordan and Egypt. In 2015

United Arab Emirates became the first

Arab nation to play in Al Ram.

In October, Raja became the first

Moroccan club to play in Palestine, but

two of their players and numerous fans

were turned away at the Israeli-controlled

border ahead of their Arab Champions

Cup game against Al Quds Hilal. That

same month, Uzbekistan flew into Tel

Aviv and boarded a bus to Ramallah for a

World Cup qualifier against Palestine. The

match passed off without any incidents

or complaints and the Palestinians

recorded an important 2-0 win over

their Uzbek visitors courtesy of goals

from Oday Dabbagh and Islam Batran.

Saudi Arabia’s national side followed

the standard procedure by travelling to

Jordan before crossing into the West

Bank via the King Hussein Bridge, a

land border controlled by Israel. In a

co-ordinated security operation, the

Saudis were not required to descend

from their team bus at customs. Israel

no longer stamps passports, but instead

issues a paper visa.

In Ramallah, Saudi Arabia were

welcomed by the Palestinian president,

who emphasised that the game illustrated

deep bonds between the two countries,

a message the Palestinian National

Authority and the PFA delivered in unison

in a bid to spin the match as political gain

for Palestine. The Saudi Arabian Football

Federation president Yasser Almisehal

led a Saudi delegation to the Al Aqsa

Mosque, one of three foremost worship

sites in Islam, but the formal visit was

thrown in disarray by protesters, who

objected to Saudi Arabia’s presence as

legitimisation of Israel’s occupation of

Palestinian territory.

Tensions in Palestine have been

exacerbated recently by US president

Donald Trump and his “Deal of the

Century” – of which details remain

shrouded in mystery. The US

administration’s foreign policy to date

suggests that Trump will prioritise Israeli

interests over Palestinian rights, ignore

fundamental principles of international

law and steer well away from the concept

of two sovereign states.

By match day the actual game had

become something of a sideshow. To

prevent any anti-Saudi protests inside

the stadium, the PFA manufactured a

sell-out crowd of loyal fans by distributing

tickets through sponsor and local

telecoms operator Jawwal. Students

from the Arab American University and

the military defence college Al Istiqlal

were also bused in. In a tightly stage-

managed scenario, a Palestinian fan

was arrested for waving a Yemeni flag

before kick-off. Palestinian police forces

subjected the stadium to a massive

security operation – which was all the

more striking because Palestine can not

normally deploy security personnel in this

Israeli-controlled zone of the West Bank.

PFA president Jibril Rajoub, who is also

a high-ranking figure in the Palestinian

National Authority, downplayed the

idea that Saudi Arabia’s visit implied a

normalisation of the Palestinian situation,

emphasising that sport and politics should

be separated. He denied that the game

had been manufactured at the highest

political level, arguing Saudi Arabia had

simply accepted an invitation to play the

game on Palestinian soil. However, before

his news conference he explicitly thanked

Saudi crown prince Mohammad Bin

Salman Al Saud, the Saudi government

and the Saudi Sports Authority.

“They didn’t receive a political

invitation,” said Rajoub. “We focus on our

country to play on our home turf, and

sports is one of the symbols of our

Challenge...Palestine’s

Mohammed Yameen

is brought down

High flier...Saudi

Arabia’s Abdullah

Madu (in white) beats

Abdelatif Bahdari of

Palestine in the air