When it comes to utterly outlandish implausibility, the notion that Gaza might host the 2022 World Cup would be hard to match. Yet this was the suggestion made the other day, apparently in all seriousness, in an article for the Guardian by the British Zionist commentator, Tom Gross.
Under the heading “A Modest Proposal,” Gross wrote that Qatar might be persuaded to heed the call of an outgoing FIFA official to shift the tournament to another Arab land. Such a gesture, he maintained, would enable Qatar to claim the moral high ground, in the process defusing the controversy over its nomination as World Cup host.
Noting how often during the latest Gaza war young Gazans were seen wearing the strips of top European teams, Gross concluded that no force could rival football as a means of persuading the people of Gaza to reject rule by Hamas, which he describes as the world’s second richest terrorist group. Though Gross gives no indication of having consulted public opinion in Gaza on the matter, he believes that the vast popularity of football there would make his proposal virtually impossible for Hamas to turn down. The result would be that billions of dollars flowed into Gaza, giving Gazans a new sense of pride and purpose and transforming their shattered land into a “prime Mediterranean tourist hub.”
It could be said that any attempt to keep the plight of Gaza in the news is better than none, since except during times of heightened crisis, Gaza is all too apt to disappear from the purview of the western media. Yet the most remarkable thing about Gross’ article is the fact that it was published in a leading newspaper. For what possible purpose is served by vouchsafing op-ed space to a proposal not so much far-fetched as mind-bogglingly preposterous? In truth, it is not even remotely conceivable that Israel would accede to a proposition that, quite apart from the stupendous logistical challenges it would entail for a shattered land, would be viewed by Israelis as the mother of all security nightmares.
The need for constructive thinking about Gaza could hardly be more urgent. Had Tom Gross’ article been an example of such thinking it would almost certainly have stimulated fruitful debate in the Guardian’s correspondence columns. It stimulated nothing of the kind. But then, few can have felt entirely certain that Gross was being serious. Bookish readers of the Guardian may have wondered if they were being exposed to some improbable attempt at satire, the title of his article being that of the famous 18th Century satirical pamphlet by Jonathan Swift, which made the case that starving Irish peasants might alleviate their hardship by selling their offspring to be eaten by the rich.
Yet behind the seeming frivolity of Gross’ piece a deadly serious intent may be discerned. Stripped of its madcap suggestion of staging a major sporting event in Gaza, what it conveyed to the Guardian’s online global readership is that the piteous condition of Gaza has nothing to do with systematic Zionist oppression, with the crippling economic blockade and the successive savage military onslaughts to which Israel has subjected the place and its people. Wrapped up in Gross’ “modest proposal” is the brazen message that the whole blame for Gaza’s chronic crisis lies at the feet of militancy.
Tom Gross’ article betrays the mounting desperation of efforts to salvage the credibility of hasbara, the Zionist endeavor to secure the world’s good opinion of Israel. Frantic to undo the damage Israel has inflicted on its image by its own actions, Zionist PR is striving to re-affirm the Jewish state’s reputation as a hard-pressed but essentially benign country, prevented only from displaying its chivalrous instincts toward Palestinians by the forces of religious extremism.
Many may prefer the older, franker brand of Zionist propaganda — the kind that declined even to acknowledge the existence of the Palestinian people.
