ALBAWABA - German newspaper Die Tageszeitung accused the Moroccan national team of antisemitism for raising the Palestinian flag following its 1-0 defeat of Portugal in the the World Cup last weekend.
With the headline "Marokko liegt nicht in Palästina - Morocco is not in Palestine," the German newspaper, commonly referred to as Taz, fueled rebuke among people. It added that the team's success is "overlaid with a lot of Palestine symbolism."
After genociding jewish people, german media redefines anti-semitism as being pro-palestine ? https://t.co/MNc5XQ6Eny
— لويزا?? (@arabeavantgarde) December 12, 2022
Taz also decried football fans and Qataris who wore a 'pro-Palestinian' armbands, saying this is just a reflex to the 'One love' armband which the German national team was banned from wearing during the World Cup matches.
Mixed reactions emerged online following the article shared by the German newspaper. Some people reported the German newspaper to social media admins, accusing the paper of promoting hate speech and racism against Palestinians.
In Germany, even “leftwing” newspapers are calling the Moroccan World Cup team anti-Semitic for raising a Palestinian flag. How misguidedly offensive. Germany’s got a lot of collective guilt to process. https://t.co/MNc6BI2yQv
— Ahmed Eldin | أحمد شهاب الدين (@ASE) December 11, 2022
One person wrote: "German media redefines antisemitism as being pro-Palestine," while another declared: "It was never about human rights to them lmao."
Since the start of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Nov. 20, football fans and players shed light on the Palestinian conflict, and showed support by either wearing 'pro-Palestine' armbands or raising the Palestinian national flag in the stadiums and streets. They also shunned Israeli reporters desperately seeking interviews with Arabs attending the tournament.
