By Jon Immanuel and Nidal al-Mughrabi
ABU GHOSH/GAZA, May 31 (Reuters) - Palestinians and Israelis may be virtually at war, but football fans on both sides cheered wildly when Senegal's Papa Bouba Diop scored the World Cup's first goal in a huge 1-0 upset over France.
It was cause for celebration among Jews and Arabs in Jawdat Ibrahim's Tent restaurant in the town of Abu Ghosh in Israel near Jerusalem, as it was for Palestinians in Jehad Abu Haseera's Hadouta Cafe in the Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean coast.
Some Israeli Jews supported Senegal because they considered France to be anti-Israel. In Gaza, Palestinian customers backed Senegal because it was the underdog.
"God helps the weak!" some chanted in Gaza.
"God punishes the anti-Semites," said Ofer Berman, an Israeli fan as he puffed on a nargila (Arab water-pipe) in the restaurant in Abu Ghosh, an Arab village outside Jerusalem considered friendly towards Jews.
Jawdat Ibrahim, owner of the Tent in Abu Ghosh, attracted a large mixed crowd of Jewish and Arab Israelis by advertising that he would show all World Cup matches on a very wide TV screen in the corner of his restaurant.
"I think this is a big opportunity to calm people down."
In Gaza, Abu Haseera said, "People will not forget the suffering but it is, like they say in sports, a time-out," from Palestinians' 20-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation.
Abu Haseera installed a satellite dish to offer fans decoded channels airing the World Cup thousands of km (miles) away in South Korea and Japan.
Palestinians, including policemen and children, crowded into the Hadouta to follow the match on another big TV screen placed in front of rows of plastic seats.
Each fan had to pay symbolic admission of five shekels ($1), which included tea or coffee. Some fans smoked cigarettes or traditional waterpipes, while others munched on snacks.
BOOST FOR BUSINESS
Abu Haseera, 37, hoped he could make up for bad business in the months since the Israeli army sealed off the Mediterranean strip in response to the militant uprising, stopping tens of thousands of Palestinians from entering Israel to work.
"I think people need a break," Abu Haseera said. "And maybe we can make some money. People won't forget the suffering or the uprising but, like they say in sports, this is a time-out."
Gaza policeman Moussa Harara said a month of exciting World Cup matches would be a welcome respite from violence and hardship for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
"We are human beings, we love to live a normal life and I hope the world will recognise this," he said.
Ofer Schwartsglass, a Jewish Israeli physicist who came to live in Abu Ghosh seven years ago, thought it possible the scourge of Palestinian suicide bombings against Israelis might ease off during the month of the World Cup.
When he was a young Israeli soldier fighting against Palestinian guerrillas in Lebanon 20 years ago, he recalled, "all military activity on both sides dropped" during the World Cup, which is contested every four years.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who ordered troops into Lebanon at that time as defence minister, is a soccer buff.
In March, Sharon interrupted a discussion with visiting U.S. peace envoy Anthony Zinni to be briefed on the progress of an Israeli team competing in a UEFA Cup match in Italy.
The prolonged violence prevented some fans from watching the World Cup opener on Friday.
In response to the infiltration of a Jewish settlement in the West Bank by a Palestinian militant, Israeli troops stepped up raids in the nearby Palestinian city of Nablus and disconnected the area's power supply, snuffing out the images of Senegal's shock victory over the World Cup champions.
ABU GHOSH/GAZA, May 31 (Reuters) - Palestinians and Israelis may be virtually at war, but football fans on both sides cheered wildly when Senegal's Papa Bouba Diop scored the World Cup's first goal in a huge 1-0 upset over France.
It was cause for celebration among Jews and Arabs in Jawdat Ibrahim's Tent restaurant in the town of Abu Ghosh in Israel near Jerusalem, as it was for Palestinians in Jehad Abu Haseera's Hadouta Cafe in the Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean coast.
Some Israeli Jews supported Senegal because they considered France to be anti-Israel. In Gaza, Palestinian customers backed Senegal because it was the underdog.
"God helps the weak!" some chanted in Gaza.
"God punishes the anti-Semites," said Ofer Berman, an Israeli fan as he puffed on a nargila (Arab water-pipe) in the restaurant in Abu Ghosh, an Arab village outside Jerusalem considered friendly towards Jews.
Jawdat Ibrahim, owner of the Tent in Abu Ghosh, attracted a large mixed crowd of Jewish and Arab Israelis by advertising that he would show all World Cup matches on a very wide TV screen in the corner of his restaurant.
"I think this is a big opportunity to calm people down."
In Gaza, Abu Haseera said, "People will not forget the suffering but it is, like they say in sports, a time-out," from Palestinians' 20-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation.
Abu Haseera installed a satellite dish to offer fans decoded channels airing the World Cup thousands of km (miles) away in South Korea and Japan.
Palestinians, including policemen and children, crowded into the Hadouta to follow the match on another big TV screen placed in front of rows of plastic seats.
Each fan had to pay symbolic admission of five shekels ($1), which included tea or coffee. Some fans smoked cigarettes or traditional waterpipes, while others munched on snacks.
BOOST FOR BUSINESS
Abu Haseera, 37, hoped he could make up for bad business in the months since the Israeli army sealed off the Mediterranean strip in response to the militant uprising, stopping tens of thousands of Palestinians from entering Israel to work.
"I think people need a break," Abu Haseera said. "And maybe we can make some money. People won't forget the suffering or the uprising but, like they say in sports, this is a time-out."
Gaza policeman Moussa Harara said a month of exciting World Cup matches would be a welcome respite from violence and hardship for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
"We are human beings, we love to live a normal life and I hope the world will recognise this," he said.
Ofer Schwartsglass, a Jewish Israeli physicist who came to live in Abu Ghosh seven years ago, thought it possible the scourge of Palestinian suicide bombings against Israelis might ease off during the month of the World Cup.
When he was a young Israeli soldier fighting against Palestinian guerrillas in Lebanon 20 years ago, he recalled, "all military activity on both sides dropped" during the World Cup, which is contested every four years.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who ordered troops into Lebanon at that time as defence minister, is a soccer buff.
In March, Sharon interrupted a discussion with visiting U.S. peace envoy Anthony Zinni to be briefed on the progress of an Israeli team competing in a UEFA Cup match in Italy.
The prolonged violence prevented some fans from watching the World Cup opener on Friday.
In response to the infiltration of a Jewish settlement in the West Bank by a Palestinian militant, Israeli troops stepped up raids in the nearby Palestinian city of Nablus and disconnected the area's power supply, snuffing out the images of Senegal's shock victory over the World Cup champions.
