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<font size="1"><a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/in-my-heart-i-am-a-palestinian-palestine-mourns-legendary-footballer-diego-armando-maradona/">https://www.palestinechronicle.com/in-my-heart-i-am-a-palestinian-palestine-mourns-legendary-footballer-diego-armando-maradona/</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">‘In My Heart, I am a Palestinian‘: Palestine Mourns Legendary Footballer Diego Armando Maradona</h1>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">November 25, 2020<br></div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Maradona-Palestine-678x455.jpg" alt="" title="Maradona-Palestine" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="395" height="265">
Argentinian Football Legend Diego Armando Maradona raises Palestinian flag. (Photo: File)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff" title="Display all articles for Palestine Chronicle Staff">Palestine Chronicle Staff</a></strong></p><p><span>The
20th century’s greatest footballer, Diego Armando Maradona, died in San
Andrés, Argentina, at the age of 60. The Argentine Football Association
reported that the cause of death was cardiac arrest.</span></p>
<p><span>Maradona has been struggling with various health crises in
recent years, the most recent of which was earlier this month when he
reportedly suffered from a brain hemorrhage. </span></p>
<p><span>Maradona’s fans around the world expressed their shock and deep
sadness for his passing. Palestinians were not an exception. However,
for Palestinian football fans, Maradona represented more than a mere
player, arguably the best in the world. He was something else entirely. </span></p>
<p><span>“In Palestine, you cannot hate Maradona. Your only option is to
love him and you couldn’t have any negative opinion about him,”
Palestinian journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle Ramzy
Baroud said. “Maradona inspired something in us as a collective – a man
of small built, from a terribly poor background, brown like us, fiery
like us and passionate like us, making his way to the top of the world.
For us, it was not about football or sports. It was about hope. It felt
as if anything was possible.”</span></p>
<p><span>“You can only imagine our excitement when we learned that
Maradona cared for Palestine, and made many gestures in support of our
struggle. Our joy was complete. Indeed, until the very end, he took
moral stances for Palestine, affirming, once more, in July 2018 that ‘In
my heart, I am a Palestinian,” Baroud added.</span></p>
<p><span>The statement of solidarity was communicated then to
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. However, this was not the
only instance in which Maradona was vocal in his support of the
Palestinian cause.</span></p>
<p><span>For example, in 2012, Maradona described himself as “the number
one fan of the Palestinian people .. I respect them and sympathize with
them.” </span></p>
<p><span>During the Israeli war on Gaza in the summer of 2014, Maradona
expressed his outrage. “What Israel is doing to the Palestinians is
shameful,” he said in a statement. </span></p>
<p><span>Also, in that same year, media reports spoke of negotiations
between the Palestinian Football Association and the Argentinian
football legend, who was rumored to be the next coach of the Palestinian
national team during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. </span></p>
<p><span>“Growing up in Gaza, we loved Maradona. In fact, personally, I
loved and played football because of him. Whenever he played, whether
for Argentina, Napoli or other teams, we would drop everything and
gather in front of our small black and white television set to watch him
play,” Baroud said. </span></p>
<p><b>“</b><span>In Palestine, we share the struggles of all oppressed,
working-class people everywhere, and, in turn, we say ‘In our collective
Palestinian heart, we are Argentinians; we Are South Americans,” Baroud
added. </span></p>
<p><span>“Thank you, Maradona. You will forever represent something beautiful in all of us.”</span></p>
<p><em><span>(The Palestine Chronicle)</span></em></p>
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