“Hamas receives World Cup in a special way”
On June 24, the Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera.net news website carried the following report by Ahmad Fayyad: “The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas is broadcasting the World Cup finals taking place in South Africa on giant public TV screens, in an initiative which was described as the first in the Gaza Strip. Through this initiative – for which it allocated seven screening theaters – Hamas is trying to expand its popular base, gain the largest number of Palestinian youth on its side and use the occasion as a platform to deliver its ideas in a more influential way. In this context, the spokesman for the movement in the Khan Youness province, Hamad Rikab, said that this calling-via-sports idea was new to Hamas, but that sports in general were among its priorities… “He explained to Al-Jazeera.net: “Our goal is to find a committed and respectable Islamic alternative through which the Gaza youth can follow this international event in a climate maintaining the customs and traditions,” hoping that these gatherings will constitute a space for the exchange of ideas and the enhancement of social ties in light of the political divide. He added: “We wanted to create a climate that would alleviate the repercussions of the Israeli war and blockade, and use this event as a platform for intellectual and cultural calling…”
