An England fan shocked an Israeli World Cup reporter in Qatar by shouting ‘free Palestine’ during a live TV broadcast.
Video shows Harry Hatton, 23, being interviewed by the Israeli journalist after England beat Senegal 3-0 last night when he screamed: ‘It’s coming home! But more importantly, free Palestine.’
The reporter is seen shaking his head and raising his hand in frustration as Hatton and his three friends – all of whom were wearing England shirts – cheered.
Controversy has followed Israelis and Palestinians pouring into Doha, revealing just how entrenched and emotive their violent century-old conflict remains, including Israel’s open-ended occupation of lands Palestinians want for a future state.
An England fan shocked an Israeli World Cup reporter in Qatar by shouting ‘free Palestine’ during a live TV broadcast
Video shows Harry Hatton, 23, being interviewed by the Israeli journalist after England beat Senegal 3-0 last night when he screamed: ‘It’s coming home! But more importantly, free Palestine’
And a number of football fans have refused to speak to Israeli reporters covering the World Cup, with some – like Hatton – shouting out their support for Palestine.
Last night, Hatton and his three friends were interviewed by an Israeli journalist, with the England fans all cheering after their win against Senegal.
The reporter then asked the jeering group: ‘First question. Is it coming home?’
Hatton and his friends then cheered and shouted ‘It’s coming home’ before the 23-year-old, who lives in Dubai according to his Instagram, added: ‘Of course it is – but more importantly, free Palestine!’
Footage of the exchange has been shared on social media, with Hatton being commended by some for supporting Palestine.
Hatton responded and wrote on Twitter: ‘Thanks everyone. I’m not perfect. I have made mistakes. Hopefully we can all move forwards together and I am glad I got to my small part in highlighting this issue.’
A number of Palestinians and Qataris have angrily confronted Israeli reporters live on TV during their coverage of the World Cup in Qatar, a nation which helps bankroll the Gaza Strip’s militant Hamas rulers.
The reporter is seen shaking his head and raising his hand in frustration as Hatton and his three friends – all of whom were wearing England shirts – cheered
Last night, Hatton and his three friends were interviewed by an Israeli journalist, with the England fans all cheering after their win against Senegal
Footage of the exchange has been shared on social media, with Hatton (centre at the World Cup) being commended by some for supporting Palestine. Hatton responded and wrote on Twitter: ‘Thanks everyone. I’m not perfect. I have made mistakes. Hopefully we can all move forwards together and I am glad I got to my small part in highlighting this issue.’
Israel’s Channel 13 sports reporter, Tal Shorrer, said he has been shoved, insulted and accosted by Palestinians and other Arab fans during his live reports from the tournament.
‘You are killing babies!’ a few Arab fans yelled as they rammed into him during a broadcast last month.
Before the World Cup began, FIFA announced that fans from Israel and the Palestinian territories would be allowed to fly directly to Qatar for the World Cup from Tel Aviv for the first time.
But officials in Qatar, with their history of public support to Palestinians, have insisted the temporary opening to Israelis was purely to comply with FIFA hosting requirements — not a step to normalising ties.
The Qatari government said that Doha told Israel that ‘any escalation in Jerusalem, Gaza or the West Bank during this time will risk the cancellation of the agreement — including the direct flights.’
Shorrer said that while interactions with Qatari officials had been perfectly pleasant, the streets were a different story.
He said he advises Israeli fans to hide their Jewish kippas and ditch their Stars of David so as not to provoke hostility. When a mobile phone salesman noticed his friend’s settings in Hebrew, he exploded with anger, screaming at the Israeli to get out of Doha.
‘I was so excited to come in with an Israeli passport, thinking it was going to be something positive,’ he said. ‘It’s sad, it’s unpleasant. People were cursing and threatening us.’
Israel’s main channels have been allowed to broadcast from Doha, providing Israeli viewers with continuous coverage of the matches. But unlike other major foreign networks centrally located in downtown Doha, the Israelis roam around without a formal studio.
A ball of fire and a plume of smoke rise above buildings in the south of the City Strip as Israeli warplanes target the Palestinian enclave, early on December 4, 2022
Violence in the West Bank has surged in recent months as Israel has escalated nightly arrest raids, making 2022 the deadliest in the occupied territory since 2006.
Israeli aircraft struck several military sites in the Gaza Strip early Sunday, hours after Palestinian militants fired a missile into southern Israel in a move apparently linked to rising tension in the occupied West Bank, Israel said.
The attack came as one of Gaza’s larger armed factions, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, threatened to retaliate after Israeli troops killed two of its leaders in the West Bank town of Jenin on Thursday.
‘In response to the rocket fired toward Israeli territory, IDF fighter jets targeted overnight (Sunday) a weapons manufacturing site belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation,’ the Israeli military said in a statement.
The target was a site ‘where the majority of the organisation’s rockets in the Gaza Strip are being manufactured’, it added.
