Palestinian Fan Arrested for Raising Yemeni Flag

Local Editor

A Palestinian fan was detained for raising the Yemeni flag during dual World Cup-Asian Cup qualifier between Saudi Arabia and Palestine.

Ahmad Al-Yumni, a 24-year-old construction worker from al-Khalil, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority (PA) for protesting against the war in Yemen.



In front of a crowd estimated at 14,000, the unraveled Yemeni flag displayed the slogan “From Palestine, here is Yemen.”

“My family was not able to see him, know about the details of his detention or where he was detained until a day later,” Yumni’s brother Kayed said.

He explained that security services informed the family that his brother would be freed in return for 1,000 Jordanian dinars ($1,410).

Held at Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium in the town of Al-Ram on the outskirts of al-Quds, the game was a qualifying match for both the World Cup 2022 and the Asia Cup 2023 international tournaments and resulted in a 0-0 draw.

Saudi Arabia backed by the US is leading a devastating bombing campaign against Yemen in March 2015, in an attempt to bring the regime of former president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi back to power and crush the Ansarullah movement.

Resistance by Yemen’s armed forces, led by the Ansarullah, has pushed the Saudi war to a stalemate, with Yemeni forces deploying increasingly sophisticated retaliatory attacks against the Saudis.

Observers warn that Saudi-US escalation could trigger a wider war that could spill over from Yemen into the region in case peace initiatives continue to be ignored by Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team