https://arab.news/5ehjr
Palestine on Tuesday came within a hair’s breadth of reaching the Asian playoff for the 2026 FIFA World Cup — only to be denied in the final seconds of their last qualifying match by a penalty kick. On the surface, it was a simple sporting moment. But at its core, it reflects the story of an entire people who have long been subjected to suffering — not because of any fault of their own, but because the scales of the world have never been fair to them.
This moment takes us back to the year 1934, when Palestine — under its own name — lost to Egypt in the qualifiers for the second World Cup held in Italy, more than a decade before the establishment of Israel. The point here is that Palestine existed, was active and carried its sporting, cultural and political identity to the world. Today, it returns to the arena, still fighting — not only for sporting goals but for the right to exist and to live in dignity.
However, the Palestinian cause has never been confined to a single field or arena. It is the story of a people displaced from their land and of a nation whose rights have long been violated amid prolonged global bias. Today, this suffering can no longer be reduced to images or news reports — it demands a direct call to the conscience of humanity.
