On May 1, 2026, Palestinian sports journalist Alaa Shamali joined BAP’s Asia-Pacific Team for an interview regarding the Anti-Fascist Football Coalition’s Move the Games Campaign. We discussed the current conditions in Gaza, connections between U.S. imperialism and the sport, and the massive contradictions that arise when the World Cup is hosted by the U.S. settler state.
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Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and where you are?
My name is Alaa Shamali, and I am a sports journalist from Gaza. I have a master’s degree in sports journalism, and have been working in this field for almost twenty years. I have a small family in Gaza and we have gone through many hardships. 2014 was the first time my home was demolished during the war. I worked hard to rebuild, but unfortunately, in 2021, my home was destroyed again. I did not give up, though, and I kept on going to rebuild my home again, but in 2023, that home was destroyed for the third time. I lived through the first eight months during the most recent war on Gaza in the Gaza Strip, and I have lived through and seen all kinds of atrocities committed by the Israelis. I have endured death and destruction. I have lived in the camps.
Everything that we built, achieved, and accomplished has been taken away and destroyed by the Israelis in a very short amount of time, especially as Israelis targeted journalists in particular. After 240 days under siege and fear, I was able to leave Gaza. Since then, I have moved from city to city, country to country, looking for a place to live and a place to call home, whilst my family is still trapped in Gaza. I moved between Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, and now I am in Turkey and looking for a place to settle.
After I left Gaza, I thought my life might be a bit better because I was away from the war, but now the suffering is doubled because I have more to worry about. It is a challenge to rebuild for me and my children and to cope with what is going on and move on from life in the camps and the suffering witnessed. Up to the time of the war, I was hopeful with my own career, and believed I could take me and my family to new places. I was broadcast as a sports analyst hundreds of times on hundreds of channels, and have written over fifteen thousand pieces in my career. I reached the highest point of my career when I was able to cover big international football tournaments. You can imagine how I feel, after all these achievements and accomplishments, that I am not able to find one entity or one institution that will help me. Israel has killed our dreams in Gaza and the United States is doing the same thing by not allowing us to be a part of the World Cup in 2026.
Since this war, we are just bodies with no souls.
Football teams and players in Gaza are being targeted by the IOF. Why do you think football in particular is being attacked?
The occupation doesn't want Palestinians to have any sort of normality: no sports or teams to begin with. In the past, the occupation entity would target any sports event or Palestinian sporting participants when they saw we were making a name for ourselves. The occupation entity also split the league in Palestine into two leagues, which is very unusual across the world – usually, there’s only one league in each nation. But the occupation split the league into one in the West Bank, and the other in the Gaza Strip, and they made it hard for any team to move between Gaza and the West Bank. The occupation entity also would arrest Palestinians on national teams after they returned from any international tournaments. In the last few years, the Palestinian teams have accomplished national and international success, and hence the Israelis have taken retribution against the Palestinians.
During this genocidal campaign, the Israelis have killed almost 1,000 athletes, 400 of whom are football players. There were at least six stadiums, each with a capacity of tens of thousands spectators, in Gaza before the war. The Israelis targeted the stadiums and destroyed them. There were also many youth academies that trained young talent—all of whom were destroyed by the Israelis as well.
According to my research, there were at least 3,000 families benefiting from sports. I think because of this, among many other reasons, the Israelis wanted to abort the dream of children to be footballers. While our teams were training to prepare for the national and international competitions, the president of the Palestinian Football Federation was trying to raise money and awareness of Palestinian sports. The occupation forces assassinated him. These stories and atrocities, this history has to be recorded and preserved, and somebody has to make sure this is not forgotten.
You covered the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. What is different, or the same, about the general coverage of the 2022 games to today?
First of all, the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 was open for all people from all over the world. The World Cup in 2026 in the United States is not going to be the same, especially because of the security restrictions. Qatar made sure to make it easy for anyone to attend and watch the World Cup–watching the Cup live is the dream of many people. But in the United States, it will not be like this, as they are making it very hard to be there due to visa restrictions, finances, and security. There are a lot of obstacles that were put in the path of all of us who want to be there in the World Cup in 2026. As a journalist, it was very easy to be able to attend the World Cup in Qatar and cover it.
What would you say to someone who says sports are not political?
When Russia began its incursion into Ukraine in 2022, FIFA punished Russia instantly. They didn’t wait long. Shortly after, Israel began to ramp up its genocide in Gaza, killing thousands of people, of which 1,000 were athletes, and nothing happened. This is a double standard from one of the biggest sporting entities in the world. How can the rest of the world accept that? Why is FIFA silent? We are also people, we are humans. Why did they not do the same for us?
I think it is ludicrous that Gianni Infantino, the FIFA President, tried to disregard what happened in Gaza by asking the Palestinian Football Federation to take a photo with the Israeli Football Federation in Canada. Israel has tried to destroy us. And they want us to shake hands with them. This is all I can say.
What should be the position of the international community regarding the games taking place in the United States?
As we all know, football is the biggest, most loved sport in the world. It should be normal for people to attend the games wherever the games are. How can we expect somebody who loves the game to be able to come up with the amount of money when you hear about the crazy prices and the difficulty and expense to get there? In my own research, amongst many Arabs where I live in the Middle East, lots of people are fearful and skeptical about attending these games. Many fans would love to attend, and would dream about attending, but only a few people would be able to.
What other message(s) should be shared with those who support the Move the Games campaign?
My first message would be to not forget about Gaza, to not forget what the occupation did in Gaza: the genocide and the killing of athletes, and the destruction of sports facilities. The other thing I would encourage is that we need to find a way to document and record these atrocities. Most of all, Israel [and the United States] must be singled out, and not allowed to participate in or host any of these events. Period.
The World Cup is for everybody, and it should be just that: for everybody. On a personal level, I would love help to be able to go back to doing my job and getting some of my life back. I would ask not to forget about us-–I hope people have not forgotten. Thank you.
Alaa’s interview shows how the Move the Games Campaign is a part of a larger project for people(s)-centered human rights and the sovereignty of nations. The settler-colonial entity of Israel has split Palestine’s team into two, imposed surveillance and restrictions upon players and fans, and destroyed sports infrastructure. These actions have forcefully stripped elements of humanity and legitimacy from Palestinians and their land. These violent actions are not isolated policies in West Asia, but are a part of a broader expression of U.S. imperialism.
The constant war upon Palestinians and the rest of the Global South, including Iran and the Philippines, illustrates how such warfare by the U.S. empire continues to operate outside the bounds of law and morality.
With the U.S. as a host country for the World Cup, FIFA is a conscious enabler of the U.S. fascist agenda. Driven by its own profit-seeking and corporate interests, FIFA is whitewashing U.S. criminality by legitimizing and normalizing the U.S. as a rogue state. Rooted in People(s)-Centered Human Rights, we must work collectively to both dismantle U.S. systems of oppression and build structures grounded in collective people power, self-determination, and the highest forms of human dignity.
Alaa’s story reflects the devastation of millions more. Sport is a part of our lives, bringing together people of all ages to reflect community, joy, skills, and dreams, and the ordinary and extraordinary weight of Alaa’s requests must be regarded as integral to our work as we continue to push for moving the games out of the U.S. imperial core.
Alaa can also be supported through available journalist work. Please contact asiapacific@blackallianceforpeace.com if you have any opportunities for Alaa Shamali.
To learn more about the Move the Games Campaign and BAP’s North-South Project for People-Centered Human Rights, visit https://peoplescenteredhumanrights.com/move-the-games/ .
Endorse the Campaign today at bit.ly/EndorseNow.
