Club Deportivo Palestino, which traces its origins to Palestinian immigrants who came to the South American nation in the early 1900s, held a tribute for the Gazan victims of the fight between Israel and Hamas.
“There are different ways of expressing pain and closeness to Palestine. Today it was the children as a way of showing that they are the most affected,” club president Jorge Uauy told AFP.
“We hope (Palestinians) will see that there are people in other parts of the world who are looking out for them and who are suffering for them.”
The colourful club supporters made their own tributes in the stands. “Gaza resists, Palestine exists,” the fans shouted, along with the sound of drums and trumpets.
But 11 minutes into the game they stopped, so a lone trumpet could blare a funeral melody. “We give them a little joy,” said fan Jorge Yarur, 57.
Journalism student Benjamin Contardo, 20, says that fans are “very attached to the Palestinian cause”. “For us, Palestine is more than a team… It is a whole people, and we want to represent the voice of all of them,” he said.
