Palestinian fans follow World Cup in spite of Israeli operation
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E-mail Xinhua, June 28, 2014
For more than two hours, Reyad Abu Dawood, father of three teenagers from the northern West Bank city of Jenin, was worried, waiting for his children to come home after a World Cup football match they went to watch in a nearby cafe.
Abu Dawood was so afraid that his children might be arrested amid an ongoing Israeli army large-scale operation.
The offensive has been launched all over the West Bank in search for three Israeli teenagers, who had been missing near the southern West Bank city of Hebron since June 12. Israeli army stormed Palestinian houses, opening fire and detaining hundreds of people.
Although the number of Palestinians watching the football matches in cafes declined due to the Israeli operation, football lovers insist on watching the matches indoors which are considered safe areas.
The enthusiasm echoes in the Gaza Strip. Most of the matches are shown at late hours at night, and it becomes risky for fans to stay late in cafes since Israeli war jets carried out airstrikes on Gaza militants' bases almost every night.
"The timing of the World Cup matches coincides with the Israeli military operations. Until now six were killed, two old men died of a heart attack and more than 580 were detained," said Abu Dawood, who hoped "this nightmare would end soon."
"I can't prevent my children from watching the World Cup but at the same time I'm afraid that something bad could happen to them," he said, adding that "I wanted my children to watch the games at home. But because we don't have the expensive satellite receiver, they have to go to the cafe."
In order to watch the World Cup matches, Palestinians have to buy a special satellite receiver and a one-year subscription card, which cost about 300 U.S. dollars. Most families can't afford it due to the deteriorating economic conditions.
Abu Dawood is not the only Palestinian who worried about the safety of his children. There are so many parents who express the same feeling and hope the Israeli military operation would end soon.
Hind Khalifa, a mother of three children from Ramallah, told Xinhua that the timing of the World Cup matches coincides with the ongoing Israeli military operations on the ground. The operations deprive the people from enjoying the games.
"While young men were enjoying the matches, suddenly Israeli army vehicles stormed the towns and cities in the West Bank and began to call on people by loudspeakers to come out of their homes, " she said.
The West Bank residents who stayed at home watching the games complained they can't enjoy watching because they hear sounds of gunshots and explosions all night long.
Khalifa accused the Israeli army of " stealing joy and happiness from the hearts of the Palestinians. Instead, they put fears and anxieties."
"People waited for years for such an international event. Israel easily came and took the joy."
Witnesses said most of the clashes between young protestors and Israeli soldiers usually happened after the football matches. It occurred mainly in big West Bank cities such as Ramallah, Jenin and Hebron.
Eassa Amro, resident of the city of Hebron in southern West Bank told Xinhua that most of the football fans planned for days to enjoy the matches. But since three Jewish teens were missing in June 12, "we are not enjoying."
In the impoverished Gaza Strip, owners of cafe and restaurant used to hope for improvement in business during the World Cup. They expressed disappointment since the shops turned almost empty because of the Israeli airstrike.
"We expected that during the world cup matches, dozens of fans would come to watch at our cafes. But because of the nightly Israeli airstrikes, people prefer not to put themselves into risk and stay at home to watch the games," said Khaled Iqdeih from southern Gaza. Endite
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