On Wednesday, Doha had a difficult time waking up from Argentina's dream after its 3:0 victory in the first semi-final against Croatia. The streets were flooded with fans, who continued to sing and cheer as if the game was not over yet. Perhaps this was actually in preparation for the final that will be held on Sunday.
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The madness in turquoise and white started long before the game. The entire city was supporting one team: Argentina. A handful of Croatia's fans could be seen here and there, but they were only a drop in the ocean. Even countless Morocco fans, whose presence was felt in the city (Air Morocco, the national airline, added 30 flights in the last two days to meet the demand of fans to attend the semifinal against France). All cheered for Argentina, and in particular, for Leo Messi.
The atmosphere on the pitch was almost as electrifying as the game itself. Put all the conspiracies for and against Messi and Argentina aside for one moment, because there are moments that are greater than all that. The semi-final at the Lusail Stadium was most certainly one of these moments: a rare display of football and goodwill, which only South American passion can produce.
The atmosphere continued long after the final whistle was blown. For almost an hour thousands of Argentina's fans remained on the field, singing and hailing even after the players had already gone down to the dressing room. The celebrations continued, of course, all the way from Lusail to the city – on the subway, buses, taxis - and in several pivotal points in the city center. Blowing of the final whistle was the signal for a mega party, which went on until the early hours of the morning. At some stage, congestion was so great that the police blocked all entrances to the Waqif market, which was overflowing with fans.
What cold shoulder?
Yesterday afternoon, when I visited the market again, the tone had shifted to Morocco's fans, in the leadup to the second semi-final against France. Argentina's fans were much calmer, for now at least, as their team had qualified for the final. The tension will return and will probably rise from today until Sunday. They will be satisfied with nothing less than the cup – evident in the unbelievable pictures of millions of fans parading the streets of every city in Argentina, and to understand the general madness that is now gripping this football-sick and trouble-stricken country.
El-Tayyeb restaurant, located in one of the market alleys, is famous for its excellent meat skewers. They have no cutlery there; you pull the meat off the skewers with a pita and eat with your hands. Sitting there is like being on a kibbutz: they ask you how many people you are, and put you at a table with that number of free seats. The food is cheap and tasty, and the atmosphere is jovial. The person next to me at the table asked where I was from. I asked him to guess. "Argentina," he tried. I answered "No" and said "Israel." He looked at me in amazement and said: "Argentina is better. They've got Messi."
Much has been written over the recent weeks about the cold shoulder that Israelis have been given here. There have also been cases of verbal attacks, including against journalists. I haven't experienced any of this. I think that the expectation to be welcomed here with open arms and love was excessive. Qatar, of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Hamas supporter and good friend of Iran, does not particularly like Israelis. It holds clandestine ties with Israel, through Mossad and other security organizations, but openly prefers to keep its distance. In the past, Israel did, in fact, have a representative office in the sheikhdom, but it was closed in 2009, following Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, and has not been reopened. Since then, Qatar has made an effort to identify with the Palestinians, educating its young generation this way, and broadcasting its messages through its home channel – Al Jazeera.
If it weren't for the World Cup, Israelis would not be coming here (with the exception of security forces or anyone holding a foreign passport). Therefore, I believe that we have to regard what is happening here in a different way: This is a one-time opportunity to visit another Muslim country, which, on the one hand, has not been affected by years of war, enmity, and strained relations with Israel, like Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority, while, on the other hand, is not completely free of these countries, like the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
This open door to Israelis will close this coming Monday, the day after the final, and Qatar will swiftly return to being the inaccessible and rough country that it was. There are undoubtedly many in Qatar who long for the chaos to recede from the streets and the familiar tranquility to be reinstated. There are also many others – mainly business owners, tourist workers, and taxi drivers – who are already regretting that the jackpot of the past month is soon coming to an end.
Criticism will disappear
Anyone who has not visited here before believes that it is natural to be taking videos and selfies on every street corner, that it is okay that private drivers are "playing taxi driver" without a license and that they honk on the streets. But those who know Qatar know that all these will disappear within a moment. Next week, no one will be double-parking at the entrance to the market, and no one will be sitting with bare shoulders on the chairs scattered around the Katara entertainment district.
Getting back to normal will be as quick as lightning. Just as the 974 stadium – it has been endlessly written about the fact that its name derived from Qatar's international telephone code and the number of containers it comprises – was immediately pulled down after the quarterfinal, in which Brazil beat South Korea 4:1. The organizers announced in advance that this would happen, and put in a lot of effort to ensure that it would happen during the World Cup so that they could prove to everyone that they were keeping their promise. Now we wait to see where the containers that were used to build this stadium would be sent in order to build it again. This will probably be in Africa, as Qatar's contribution to the Black Continent, and in an attempt to generate more positive public relations for themselves.
In the meantime, the organizers can feel satisfied, because the level of football displayed in the World Cup has been excellent, and Argentina and Messi have reached the final. This guarantees them peak interest up until the last minute. They will sweep the immense criticism of this World Cup under the carpet. Those who live in Qatar are not exposed to this at all and bask in the reports of the "most successful world cup in history", as it has been marketed here. And in everything else about the world, you can count on the Qataris to move heaven and earth – and above all – to pour money, in continuing to glorify their name in every way possible.
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