A number of Palestinians have expressed their support for the Indonesian national team in the 2018 Asian Games men’s soccer qualification round, even though both nations are in Group A.
“Yes, we love Indonesia, I will always be happy (even if Indonesia defeats Palestine) because we are all Muslim brothers,” said one Palestinian on his Instagram account @muhammadhusein_gaza on Tuesday.
The comment was uploaded after an interview with an Indonesian journalist, Muhammad Husein, who visited Palestine on a mission to deliver humanitarian assistance.
Hussein interviewed a number of Palestinians in Gaza, who were killing time playing soccer, asking their opinion ahead of the Indonesia-Palestine match at the Patriot Chandrabaga Stadium in Bekasi, West Java, on Wednesday evening, Aug.15.
Although the majority of Palestinians were firmly behind their national team, they said they would accept defeat if Indonesia won the match.
“If Indonesia wins, we will accept it, God willing,” said another Palestinian.
The man, however, reminded the Indonesian national team that Palestine was not a team that could be easily defeated.
“Be careful, Palestine is also a strong team,” he said.
Meanwhile, a number of Palestinian students encouraged both teams to perform at their best. They uploaded their comments on a recorded video clip.
“Greetings from us to the Indonesian and Palestinian national teams. Palestine must win,” one student said.
The video had reaped 880 comments from netizens in Indonesia as of Tuesday afternoon.
“Whoever wins [the match], Indonesia is the winner. Whoever wins [the match], Palestine is the winner. Because Palestine is Indonesia and Indonesia is Palestine,” said Indonesian Twitterer @Nugibara.
“Win or lose, we remain brothers,” said @nantan_ely_suriadi.
“The important thing is that we are siblings, don’t worry about the ball. #Savepalestine,” said @zr_cpaceh.
(Source : Antara)
