RAMALLAH, June 6, 2018 (WAFA) – Argentina’s decision to cancel its warm-up match against Israel in Jerusalem hit the front page headlines in Palestinian Arabic dailies on Wednesday.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that Argentina’s Football Federation (AFA) has called off its match with the Israeli Football Association (IFA) in Jerusalem.
The warm-up match was scheduled to take place in Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium for June 9.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida celebrated the news as a “ victory for Palestinian sports” and said that it came after an intense campaign by the chief of Palestinian Football Association (PFA) Jibril Rjoub and pro-Palestinian activists.
It added PFA expressed gratitude for all grassroots and sports institutions and actors worldwide for their relentless efforts in this regard.
On the other hand, al-Quds opted to highlight a Palestinian rally outside the UN office in Ramallah marking 51 years since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It said that protestors demanded protection for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and called for an end to the intra-Palestinian division.
Yet, al-Ayyam opted to report that Israeli military is getting prepared to quell Friday protests, dubbed the “March of a Million to Jerusalem” in Gaza.
It added that flammable kites flown by Gaza protestors set new fires in Israeli settlements in Gaza periphery as Israeli officials made calls to assassinate protestors who fly kites.
Al-Ayyam added in this regard that Palestinians rode their motorbikes in Gaza to mark 51 years since the 1967 occupation as preparations are underway for mass protests on the last Friday of Ramadan.
Furthermore, al-Quds said that head of the Palestinian Civil Affairs Authority Hussein al-Sheikh, Finance Minister Shukri Bishara and Governor of Monetary Authority Azzam Shawwa met with Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon in Jerusalem.
It said that two Palestinians were injured with Israeli artillery fire in the northern besieged Gaza Strip.
According to al-Ayyam, Israeli occupation authorities withheld the body of a Palestinian young man killed two days earlier near Khuza‘a town to the east of Khan Younis.
The dailies said Israeli police raided East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and detained 12 Palestinian Muslim worshippers.
Al-Ayyam added that Israeli occupation authorities have been obstructing Muslim worshippers who plan to spend the last 10 days of Ramadan in steadfast worship at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that the cabinet called on the international community to assume its responsibilities and to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people living under occupation.
According to al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida, President Mahmoud Abbas called Jordan’s King Abdullah II during which he wished Jordan stability and prosperity.
They added that Israeli occupation authorities seized Palestinian farmlands belonging to As-Sawiya village, south of Nablus. They said Israeli settlers razed Palestinian farmlands near Beita town, south of Nablus.
According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Israeli forces conducted multiple overnight raids across the West Bank, detaining 24 Palestinians, including 12 from Al-Aqsa courtyards.
President’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh was reported in al-Ayyam stressing that any US initiatives that cross red lines set by Palestinians would never be accepted.
It added Israeli forces forcefully expelled five Palestinian families from their homes to conduct military drills in the northern Jordan Valley.
Additionally, the Palestine Prisoner’s Society was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida announcing that preliminary results of tests conducted for Hassan Tamimi, 18, showed he totally lost his sight due to medical negligence during detention.
K.F./M.K.
