Maghreb Stadiums: Palestine in Ninety Minutes

What does it mean for a football fan to be busy with a serious event while enjoying their team’s match? It means, quite simply, that the event carries great value so that you remember it during the time you allocated for entertainment, and forget about every serious matter, which is what the fans of the Round Witch in the Arab world did, with their manifestations of support for Gaza and its people in the face of the Zionist aggression, even if the Maghreb fans were distinguished from others in their forms of solidarity. .

The day after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation carried out by the resistance of Al-Qassam, the military wing of the Hamas movement, which left more than 1,200 Israeli dead, the fans of the Egyptian Al-Ahly and Ismaili clubs were the first to express their support for Palestine with chants and flags during a match between the two teams, which was repeated many times. Arab countries. But the Moroccans went further than that, as songs written specifically for Palestine echoed in their stadiums. To be present at every football event.

In Morocco, despite the normalization agreement recently signed with Israel, since the aggression on Gaza, popular activities supporting Palestine and rejecting normalization have not ceased. Within this context, the song “Land of Resilience” was released by “Winners”, the Wydad Casablanca team’s ultras, in the second leg of the quarter-finals – the African League, which was held on October 27 last year. The audience sang the song at Mohammed V Stadium for the first time, while it gained widespread popularity and many views on YouTube, exceeding one million within days.

In a scene that was repeated later in more than one match, Wydad fans chanted: “Palestine is my home and my path of victory. Palestine is my country and the land of steadfastness. My guarantor is Palestine. Palestine is the land of the Muslims. Oh, Saladin, and on your path we will walk. Oh, Saladin, we will die long and long live Palestine. The land of the Messenger and the Prophets.” They watered it with the blood of innocent people, Jenin, Hebron and Gaza. God willing, we will liberate you, O Al-Aqsa.” As the match began, the Moroccan fans continued to sing their new song: “Jerusalem, my beloved. You have been absent for a long time. My Lord, keep it safe for us. We pray in it together. Shake the banner of religion. O resistance man, shake your flag. Hold on to your mask. Freedom will come tomorrow. May God Almighty be upon us. Witness.” I wished for your position. For the cause, we will die as a martyr. Calm down for a while and your people will resist, you compromiser. Palestine is a symbol of determination, victory and martyrdom. Your slogans were on the battlefield, and you raised the head of the nation.”

This majestic singing demonstration was preceded by a purely Palestinian night on October 8, during a match between the clubs of Moghreb Tetouan and Raja Casablanca, with the latter’s fans singing in the seventh minute, in reference to October 7, the day on which “Al-Aqsa Flood” began, the song “Palestinian Rajawi.” It is a song released by the fans of the Moroccan club in conjunction with Land Day in 2019 in support of the Palestinian cause, and its words say: “Oh beloved Palestine, what a sad heart you have, and quiet years, bringing tears to the eyes, for beloved Palestine, oh where are the Arabs sleeping, oh Zina.” Countries, resist, may God protect you, from the injustice of the hostile brothers, and from the Jews who covet you, we will not allow you, Gaza, what is wrong with me is far away, oh Rafah and Ramallah, our nation has seen it sick, they have made it sick with problems, and the corruption of governments, and the Arab is living in woe, a future full of darkness, and Rajawi is a voice. Oppressed peoples, who do not listen, obstruct you with the tricks (we know your tricks), until we are vultures, we kneel (because we are eagles who do not kneel), except to the Lord of the Worlds, our Master, O Master of the Universe (Owner of the Universe), and freedom is for Palestine, and, God willing, the joy of Jerusalem will last, Palestinian Rajawi ( “Rajawi is a Palestinian,” I wanted to walk, who would hold me by the hand?

The same atmosphere prevailed in Tunisian stadiums. In a match that brought together the Esperance and Monastir teams, tens of thousands of throats rose in orchestral harmony, chanting a song, albeit simple in its words, but honesty bestowed on it an eloquence that made its profound impact on the souls of everyone who watched those crowds chant in one voice: “Palestine is the nation’s cause.” She has years, and there are tears in her eyes, and the heart is sad for her. The rulers of the nation betrayed you, oh dogs of Israel. Chivalry has disappeared from them. How did they sell Palestine? They betrayed the people of the resistance while we were not forgetting. They sold the cause of a nation with despicable normalization. Palestine is the place of the Holy Prophet. Palestine is the great people of Al-Aqsa. Palestine, by God, tears. Al-Ain, Palestine, by God, the heart is sad. How can your hearts forget September 2000, when they killed Muhammad Al-Durra, necking his poor boy? How can your minds forget what aggression they carried out… Your slogan is power and you receive bribes of money, and if you are satisfied with humiliation, it is impossible for you to be men… the men of the nation are not absent. Holders of the cause, we swear to visit Al-Aqsa, may God protect us.”

In Algeria, this state of solidarity is at its peak, as there are many ties that strengthen the relationship between the two countries, including a heavy bill of martyrs paid by both peoples as a result of colonialism. One day, the late Algerian President Houari Boumediene expressed the strength of this bond, in a speech that has become one of the Algerian constants. He said, “We are with Palestine, whether it is unjust or oppressed.” This situation is clearly reflected in the field of sports, as Palestine’s presence in stadiums is not linked to an event, but rather is permanent, and on more than one level. There is the “Palestine Martyrs” song, which has become something like the official anthem of the Algerian fans. It is repeated in every match and in every meeting of one of its teams in any event. Championship, whether local, Arab, African, or international, and its words say: “Palestine of the martyrs, Palestine of the martyrs, look at our conditions and the actions of our Bedouins. We men bear witness to our actions, and God bears witness… whether oppressor or oppressed, we always stand with it, our positions are known, we are steadfast in them. Al-Aqsa is ours until the Day of Judgment.”

The observer can also monitor another level of attendance, represented by the diversity of chants and songs dedicated to the face of Palestine. Before the bloody events in Gaza, and at the beginning of this year, we find the Algerian fans in one of the African Nations Championship matches singing “I am my Palestinian blood” by Muhammad Assaf, emphasizing Thus, its interest in the Palestinian issue is not linked to an occasion or event. There is also a famous Palestinian song that we can encounter in many Algerian football matches, which is the song “Sons of Our Neighborhood” by Muhammad Abu Hilal, known as Abu Nisreen, although some of them attribute it to Muhammad Saada Saleh, founder of the popular Tarshiha band, for Abu Nisreen to sing it later. In both cases, the song transformed from a chant intended for children, into the first lyrical work of the Second Palestinian Intifada, after which it spread in many Arab countries.