At the Arab Cup, Palestinian football is uniting what politics has divided

In a time of deep Palestinian anguish, the national football team's successive victories in the Arab Cup, currently taking place in Qatar, have ignited a rare and precious sense of unity.

This joy begins in the rain-soaked tents of displaced families in Gaza, stretches to refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and ripples across Palestinian communities worldwide.

From Rafah comes Ihab Abu Jazar, the team's coach, whose family home was destroyed and whose mother was moved to a tent in the Mawasi area. He becomes, suddenly, a beacon of hope.

For a fleeting moment, his squad delivers triumph on the green pitch, qualifying for the next round and dedicating the victory first to Gaza and then to Palestinians everywhere.

Behind the Fida'i, the team's nickname meaning fighter, a collective spirit emerges. It transcends sport, reflecting a profound yearning among Palestinians to reclaim an unfragmented identity, free from the suffocating grip of political division and despair.

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