– There is a huge contrast from how the World Cup is viewed in the Middle East. The Qatar World Cup has contributed to Arab pride, Dag Henrik Tuastad, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oslo, told news. This is confirmed by Tunisian Raed Lamtii, whom news meets on the streets of Doha. For the first time, the football World Cup will be held in the Middle East, and it is great for the people of the region to be able to welcome them to their part of the world. – It is a great honor for us as Arabs and Muslims. You know, the media changes everything about Muslims. They only know us as terrorists and bad things, but we are shown that we are good people with great hospitality for everyone. We accept all nationalities. Everyone is welcome, says Lamtii. PROUD: Tunisians Bilel Mekni and Raed Lamtii are proud that the WC is being held in an Arab country. Backlash Before the World Cup, Fifa president Gianni Infantino stated that the World Cup was an opportunity for Qatar and the Middle East to “present themselves to the world”. Tuastad believes that, in the eyes of many, Qatar has succeeded in precisely that, by arranging a well-organised and safe championship. – The Western image of the Middle East as a chaotic city has been adjusted. Despite all aspects of the Qatar World Cup, it has been a fairly smooth event, he believes. The pride of the Arabs around the Qatar World Cup stands in stark contrast to how the media coverage and debate surrounding the championship has been in Norway and other western countries. Criticism of human rights violations, laws against homosexuality, the serving of alcohol in the stadium and other aspects of the World Cup have created a backlash. When news spoke to Tuastad a little over a week ago, he pointed out that “We are all Qatar” was trending in several places in the Middle East. – There you can also see that there has been a reaction against European arrogance, not to say Orientalism. From a northern European perspective, one looks for things that are wrong, rather than honestly portraying what is going on. The human rights organization Amnesty International, like the western press, has turned a critical spotlight on the World Cup in Qatar. Among other things, they have pointed out their country’s violations of human rights and Fifa’s neglect of their obligations. – The criticism is not an attempt to pull Qatar down, but an attempt to lift up migrant workers who are exposed to systematic human rights violations. Both Amnesty and the UN’s special rapporteur on racism have pointed out that there is structural, built-in discrimination affecting certain ethnic groups in Qatar. Amnesty has discovered that some companies pay employees based on their ethnicity. When we raise that issue, it is not because we do not like Qatar, but to make it clear that migrant workers in Qatar are exposed to discrimination, among other things based on ethnicity, says political adviser at Amnesty Norway, Frank Conde Tangberg. NEW FAVORITES: People from the Arab world are now hoping for Morocco in the football World Cup. Photo: GLYN KIRK / AFP Different view In several western countries, a fan parade before the World Cup was blamed for being a Qatari PR stunt with fake supporters. In other parts of the world, the parade was covered in positive terms. To news, Fifa describes the debts from the West as “disappointing, but not surprising”, and says that the passion of these supporters is as authentic as that of people in Europe. Mari Norbakk is a researcher and social anthropologist at Chr. Michelsen’s Institute, with Qatar as one of her specialist fields. She believes that the media coverage of the country lacks nuance, both when it concerns the migrant workers and the people who come from Qatar. REAL FANS? These supporters attracted attention before the World Cup. They were migrant workers in Qatar, but cheered on other nations. Photo: HAMAD I MOHAMMED / Reuters – I have friends in Qatar who are migrant workers and “hardcore” football supporters. If they are from a country that does not necessarily play in the World Cup itself or has a strong national team, then they cheer for other countries, says Norbakk. In an hour-long monologue before the World Cup, Infantino lashed out at criticism of the Qatar World Cup. Among other things, he called parts of the criticism “racist”. Similar wording has been used by others who fight back against various forms of criticism from European countries. – Fifa and Qatar’s Supreme Committee have argued under the narrative that the criticism that has come is racist, and said that Europe should rather focus on itself. When we raise LGBT rights in Qatar, we speak on behalf of a discriminated minority in the country. Qatar’s culture is not only defined by heterosexual men. LGBT people must also be allowed to help define Qatari culture, says Tangberg in Amnesty. – When we address violations of these rights, we do not do so because we do not respect the local culture, but we do so because vulnerable minorities are persecuted because of their identity. We do it on behalf of Qatari nationals as well, says Tangberg. – The idea of Europe as arrogant has been strengthened Tuastad uses the protest of the German national team after the rainbow bandage refusal as a judge of how the Arabs now view Europe. In previous championships, people in the Middle East have kept up with the Germans and other European countries. Now they don’t do that anymore, according to Tuastad. – If the aim of the markings was to influence Arab attitudes, the opposite has happened. The idea of Europe as arrogant, and with a hidden racist agenda, has been reinforced, says Tuastad. news’s Middle East correspondent, Yama Wolasmal, says many Arabs feel that there has been a smear campaign against Qatar. – Racism against Arabs, double standards and hypocrisy sum up the feelings of many in the Middle East after the Western criticism of the Qatar World Cup. Most Arabs and Muslims believe that Western journalists have assumed the role of activists and have run a smear campaign against Qatar, says Wolasmal. WC REPORTER: Yama Wolasmal has covered the football WC in Qatar for news. – Many wonder why Western countries did not demand a boycott of the Olympics and World Cup in China and Russia. The Qataris I have spoken to say: Western leaders come running to us when they need gas and want to sell weapons, but during the World Cup we are suddenly the worst country on earth, says the correspondent. He says that the World Cup has been a “welcome break for people from the entire Arab world”. – Arabs are flocking to Doha to experience the championship. The vast majority of people I speak to say that they are proud of what Qatar has achieved. That the championship has given the Arabs a confidence boost that makes many people think: Look, we can also achieve something that the whole world is watching, says Wolasmal. Will be reunited with Morocco Sabouha Rabih from Iraq has been in Qatar for one month. He sits comfortably in the shadows when news asks for an interview and talks with pleasure about what this championship means to him. PROUD: Iraqi Sabouha Rabih wants to show off the region to people from the West. – It is very important for us and the Arab people that the western world becomes familiar with us, our culture and our religion. How we think, work, behave – Arab countries are not about war and terrorism, he says. When the WC started, four Arab countries participated. Now there is only Morocco left. After they beat Spain and progressed to the quarter-finals, jubilation erupted across the Arab world. From Western Sahara to Oman, an area with 440 million inhabitants. On Saturday, Morocco became the first African country to reach a World Cup semi-final. DECISION: Youssef En-Nesyri scored the only goal against Portugal in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday evening. Photo: Martin Meissner / AP – It is probably about the need for success and pride, Tuastad believes is the background for the Arab association around Morocco. Abdullah Al-Arian has written the book “Soccer in the Middle East: State, society and the beautiful game”. In an article in The New York Times, he writes that some of the criticism against the Qatar World Cup “is rooted in false accusations that the Middle East lacks football history”. According to Al-Arian, football has been strong in the region for a hundred years. Qatari Khalid Alhajaji also told news. FAN: Qatari Khalid Alhajaji says that there are long football traditions in the country. – I do not agree with everyone who says that we are not a football nation. What defines a football nation? The youngest I have at home is five years old. He loves football. For us, it has been a legacy of football since the 30s and 40s, he says. Ever since Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010, there have been accusations of corruption. For the Tunisian Lamtii, this is not an obstacle to enjoying football. – No, this is Fifa. It’s football. We don’t care about politics or anything else. Here you have to go and cheer on your team, enjoy it and be happy. We should integrate everyone together: Muslims, Christians, Jews – all together. It’s football. It’s something everyone can rally around, no politics, he says. I think the World Cup strengthens pan-Arabism The late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish believed that football represents a very welcome respite in the Middle East, and Al-Arian believes that the Arab Spring strengthened the feeling of football as a unifying force. Tuastad believes that the political developments during the Arab Spring at the beginning of the 2010s weakened pan-Arabism, a kind of common Arab nationalism. This has changed again in connection with the WC. – Now the Arabs follow the Arab countries as far as possible in the WC. Now Morocco is a hot topic. Another expression of pan-Arabism is the way the Palestinian flag has appeared everywhere during the World Cup. The cause of the Palestinians died with the Arab Spring, and Saudi Arabia distanced itself from the Palestinian cause. Now the flag of Palestine is used as a counter to waving the Pride flag. FREE PALESTINE: The Palestine flag will be flown high and often during the World Cup in Qatar. Photo: Ariel Schalit / AP Rabih from Iraq also knows an Arab community. Although he is from Iraq, he feels he belongs to the championship further south in the Persian Gulf. – This is not just for Qataris. It is for all Arabs and the entire Middle East. Arab countries have the same culture and the same language. We have a lot in common. They get to know all of us, not just Qataris. Every day I have been asked here about what I think of the West, and how things are in Iraq. Then I asked back how it is to be in Qatar, and they are having a great time, he says. However, it is well documented that this is not the case for many migrant workers. Amnesty has previously concluded that 15,000 foreign nationals have died in Qatar in the period from 2010 to 2019. The World Cup boss recently claimed that 4-500 people have died during the construction of the championship. – You will experience migrants who are proud to have built a fantastically beautiful stadium, even though they have struggled and been discriminated against. It is natural to feel that pride. It is right for Qatar to be proud of having won the World Cup, but they should not be proud of the systematic human rights violations that have been committed for over a decade in order to organize the championship. There is absolutely no reason to be proud of that, and one should not trivialize what has happened by pointing out that terrible things are happening elsewhere in the world, says Tangberg in Amnesty. SKYSCRAPERS: The skyscrapers in Doha lit up in the Moroccan flag. Photo: AP
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Western criticism created a backlash – this is how the WC brings together an entire region – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
