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| photo by Rhett Lewis from unsplash |
Let me start by saying I’m so incredibly happy for the people who come to Qatar to attend the World Cup, every single one of them, the beautiful interaction that happened between the people is beautiful to witness, although I couldn’t unfortunately, go to see it, but I saw videos and heard what sites and people said, and it made me feel like I was there
Did this World Cup defeat the narrative?
Just when the time came for the World Cup the western newspapers didn’t stop. The State of Qatar published a list of laws for the arrivals to adhere to, but these laws did not go unnoticed by the “democratic” countries. A fierce campaign was launched to boycott the World Cup, due to its objection to the laws set by the host country, including the issue of homosexuality and Foreign labor, Despite the importance of the topic regarding the foreign employment
but it is ironic and contradictory that it suddenly turns from countries claiming “the freedom of the other” to countries that impose one type of freedom as they see it, without being held accountable by anyone and without anyone objecting to it
as long as I remember arab countries, Asian and Central Asia, have been under the wings of big economic countries not only politically but culturally also, especially in our part of the world, we are filmed always as underdeveloped third world countries with their principles and opinions that are so behind and need to come to the new modern world, so it’s really ironic when they want to impose one-sided thinking for what is right
Just as there is diversity in western countries there is diversity in Arabic countries too, people in our part of the world are very very diverse in thinking The Arab world is characterized by the multiplicity of different religions, different cultures, and many races, but the philosophy that formed the views of the West is different from what formed our beliefs. Our definition of freedom differs from their definition of freedom.
Why just mention the freedom part (if you might ask)? because it’s the first and the most talked about a subject that the West accuses us of and also the most misunderstood subject, for example, my personal belief about freedom is not unlimited freedom, and I see unlimited freedom as an act of chaos there must be rules to everything To organize yourself and the lives of others
and as I mentioned that in every society there’s the extremist wither in the closed-minded way and the no-limitations way, and I disagree with both of them, because having a Moderate principle is your lifeguard to hold on to in this continuously changing life to not fall into every change before analyzing and thinking about it all
and I really admire any person having a certain principle whether coming from a religious or philosophical, point of view without hurting others and sticking to it
exactly like Qatar wasn’t ashamed of its culture, on the contrary, embraced it and showed it to the world in a beautiful way, and that’s what is amazing about the World Cup this year, what a host in an Arab country did to the spirit of society amazing and sad at the same time as if we somehow we always seek to prove ourselves and deliver a message and to make our voice to be heard loud, but also amazing because the world is not restricted to a specific country and the other parts of the world will not remain what the narratives and propaganda always say and the media pictures
Having said that, Science and ancient times, cultures have influenced each other and been affected, and man by his nature, will influence and be affected
In a beautiful conversation about fame with three actresses in anas bu khash’s show (ab talks), Michelle Rodriguez said how Hollywood imposed a certain image about culture 75% of the rest of the world holds the biggest population on the planet and to not have those people featured or those races of humans featured as the main characters in whatever films your making is stupid, ultimately there’s a machine that Hollywood created and they are number one in being able to take their culture and make it appealing to the rest of the world
What happened in Qatar?
The tournament was filled with interesting events that excited the broad audience and created scenes that may be seen for the first time scenes unaccustomed to foreign arrivals, from the traditional “thobe”, to the bazaar that introduced people to our culture, and (souq waqif) the oldest markets in the country, the voices of the call to prayer, and The intense and diverse presence of Arab fans, it all there, it’s important to know because the World Cup was held in Qatar Enabled many neighboring countries were able to come, where The influx of Arabs was not that large in the previous editions of the World Cup
And For the first time we didn’t hide under another culture we embraced what we have in a welcoming way to all cultures, people loved it all, well (at least the people who come), Dozens of visitors from different countries learned how to pronounce some simple Arabic phrases, When you walk through the streets or the market you’ll notice a lot of fans wearing traditional Qatari clothes in the colors of their national teams, and new phrases were used like Sir sir — Where’s Messi — Metro this way- Bisht, And the Fans dictionary certainly brought new words added to it and was used broadly in the streets and some fans made it their own version
And The atmosphere after the team’s historic victory was magical The fans were overjoyed, the car horns were blaring, and the buildings were covered in colors the street turns into the color of the team who won with beautiful Encouraging songs, and Fans of other teams memorized the words of other teams to Repeat it with them, and becomes almost like a festive cheering
It was eye-opening to witness such beautiful diversity with each country bringing its culture with them
Palestinian journalist Muna al-Omari explained some of the things she saw when she was there, “saying while I was filming in the market with my phone, a person dressed as a Mauritanian, another Saidi(Egyptian), and another Khaleeji passed by, Moroccan children, and families from various Arab countries. This is something strange to my eyes, as a person coming from Palestine, these scenes touched my soul and heart”.
Also, the Palestine cause was powerfully present, The campaign appealed to the Arab fans who attend the matches and accompanying events, to raise the flag of Palestine and promote it in the stands of the stadiums.
The campaign was very popular on social media in the Arab countries, and activists were invited to participate in the campaign and interact with the hashtags “The Palestinian Dream” and “Why Not”.
Plus the worming welcome that people received from the residents and the police, felt write at home, you see people adjusting another person’s clothes, And in one of the many beautiful seances An Omani young man living in Qatar Ahmed al-nofaly hosted an Argentine man at his house after the Argentine was preparing his bags to return because of the accommodation costs, He told him not to come back until Argentina take the World Cup, and they did
I think Qatar holding the world cup, has definitely affected the arab teams, Morocco wrote its name in letters of light in the history of world football by achieving a victory and reaching the golden square, and Saudi Arabia achieved one of the biggest surprises in the history of the World Cup by defeating Argentina, and Tunisia defeated the defending champion France before exiting the group stage.
And to top it all off the beautiful celebration of the families of the players and the traditional Arabic mothers in her affections and simplicity filled with joy
In this World Cup People become more open to the fact of diversity and there’s more to the humans than what the media have to say
And fascinatingly gathered the Arab nation, under the hope of victory not defeat with a glimpse to go forward not backward
Brought a new scene And let the nations get to know us more people without the media dedicating a certain perspective
The picture frame of the Qatar World Cup 2022 can accommodate the differences of all people
If you asked me I think it was a historical moment that will have a great impact on the soul of the generation to come
The question is Will we see the same controversy at the next World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2026?
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