TEHRAN -- The so-called
“normalization deals” between the occupying regime of Israel and some Arab governments in recent years have failed to stamp out hatred of people in Arab countries towards the apartheid regime, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Wednesday.
In a Twitter post, Kanaani said the World Cup 2022 hosted by Qatar has demonstrated disgust against the Tel Aviv regime.
“The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has turned into a show of (Arab) people’s disgust against the apartheid Zionist regime and the manifestation of the solidarity of nations with the cause of Palestine,” Kanaani said.
“The occupying Israeli regime is hated by all nations,” he added.
Since the football carnival began in Qatar, anti-Israel sentiment has been running high, with football fans from across the world waving the Palestinian flag during the matches.
Football fans have also refused to speak to Israeli journalists covering the World Cup, citing the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories and unbridled atrocities against Palestinians.
Raz Shechnick, a reporter for Yedioth Ahronoth, took to Twitter to share his harrowing experiences in Qatar vis-à-vis sweeping anti-Israel sentiment and pro-Palestine advocacy.
“We didn’t want to write these words, we are not the story here. But after ten days in Doha, we cannot hide what we are going through. We are feeling hated, surrounded by hostility, not welcomed,” he said.
Dor Hoffman, an Israeli journalist, reported that a Qatari taxi driver kicked him out of his cab after he discovered his identity, refusing to take his money.
Moav Vardy, a foreign affairs reporter for the Israeli Kan 11 television channel, said he was yelled at by a Saudi fan, who told him “you are not welcome here, this is Qatar,

this is our country, and there is only Palestine, no Israel.”
During the matches, the Palestinian flag has been spotted regularly over the past few weeks, amid growing awareness about the Zionist regime’s aggression in the occupied territories.
Kanaaani cited Palestinian news sources as saying that at least five Palestinians had been martyred by Zionist troops over the past 24 hours.
He lashed out at Western states for supporting “a racist, terrorist and occupying regime,” calling them “false advocates of human rights.”
“The false claimants of human rights have been supporting a racist, terrorist, and occupying regime for more than 7 decades, which not only commits gross human rights violations but also commits genocide against the Palestinian nation,” he said.
Since the beginning of 2022, Israeli troops have martyred more than 200 Palestinians, including 50 children, in the occupied West Bank and East Al-Quds as well as the besieged Gaza Strip.