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World Cup brings Gazans moments of joy and hope amid devastation · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: The largest World Cup in history draws to a close
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  Speaker 1: this weekend, and Sunday's final is expected to be watched
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  Speaker 1: by more than one billion people. Tonight, we have a
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  Speaker 1: look at how the world's most popular sporting event is
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  Speaker 1: being marked in a place where celebration has become rare.
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  Speaker 1: As Nick Schiffrin reports with producer Shams Oday, the tournament
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  Speaker 1: has helped Palestinians in Gaza find moments of connection and hope.
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  Speaker 2: Thousands of miles from soccer's biggest stage is a landscape
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  Speaker 2: of crushed concrete where children play on the remnants of war,
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  Speaker 2: and one child's dream is to sit atop the soccer
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  Speaker 2: world and one day win the World Cup. Ten year
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  Speaker 2: old Mohammed Shabban might have lost both legs and his
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  Speaker 2: right hand an Israeli airstrike, but not his ability to
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  Speaker 2: dribble or love for soccer. Inside the family's canvas home,
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  Speaker 2: his mom is his teammate, every pass proof the war
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  Speaker 2: has not claimed everything.
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  Speaker 3: Ahmad mohittl Kora. Mohammed is talented in soccer. He loves
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  Speaker 3: to watch the World Cup. His favorite player is Rinaldo.
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  Speaker 3: His goal is to play before the world and he
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  Speaker 3: will not forget the pain he's in until he achieves
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  Speaker 3: this goal. I pray that he becomes a source of
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  Speaker 3: pride for Arabs and Arab teams.
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  Speaker 2: The family's been displaced a dozen times, carrying Mohammed for
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  Speaker 2: miles with no wheelchair. His mother, Sondos, struggles to keep
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  Speaker 2: him safe and distract it from ongoing dangers. She's desperate
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  Speaker 2: to let Mohammed heal, possible only if they find a
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  Speaker 2: way out.
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  Speaker 4: Every six months or so, Mohammad has needed surgery because
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  Speaker 4: of the deep scar tissue caused by rat bits. Rats
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  Speaker 4: cause these infections, and when it gets really bad, he's
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  Speaker 4: undergone further surgery.
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  Speaker 3: I don't want Mohammed to suffer anymore.
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  Speaker 2: He pushes himself further than most of us would be
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  Speaker 2: able to go past the fences that war built around him,
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  Speaker 2: to precious moments with friends, just a boy playing the
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  Speaker 2: game he loves.
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  Speaker 5: When we play outside, we constantly hear gunshots. We run
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  Speaker 5: away because we're terrified. Our only resort is to play
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  Speaker 5: between the tents. I want to travel abroad and install
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  Speaker 5: my prosthetics, and I want to play soccer with my
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  Speaker 5: friends and play at the World Cup.
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  Speaker 2: For a people living through war, the beautiful game offered
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  Speaker 2: a brief escape from a still ugly reality, especially when
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  Speaker 2: their Arab neighbor Egypt played. The crowd gathered wherever they
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  Speaker 2: could find a seat, and when Egypt scored, a shared
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  Speaker 2: celebration a reminder that there is still a wide world
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  Speaker 2: beyond the rubble. They gathered in the shadow of shattered
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  Speaker 2: buildings and watched through bombed walls that have become windows.
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  Speaker 2: Egypt publicly dedicated its victories to Palestinians.
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  Speaker 4: Today.
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  Speaker 2: I walked three miles to reach this place so I
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  Speaker 2: could celebrate with my family and my people.
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  Speaker 3: They are attending as if it were their match, as
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  Speaker 3: if it were their.
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  Speaker 2: Country and their coach. On Gaza's beach, artist carved a
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  Speaker 2: tribute to Egyptian coach Hosam Hassan, whose message resonated beyond
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  Speaker 2: the pitch.
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  Speaker 3: You know what I mean.
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  Speaker 1: So I am a message through football the soft power
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  Speaker 1: in the world. Let the Palestinian people live live.
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  Speaker 3: They do not want anything, just to live.
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  Speaker 2: But in Gaza there is still death. Last week another
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  Speaker 2: funeral for Mohammed al Wahadi. He was an aid worker
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  Speaker 2: who helped displace families and organize the World Cup screenings.
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  Speaker 2: His family says an Israeli airstrike killed him in a
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  Speaker 2: taxi on his way to watch Egypt play Argentina. Israel
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  Speaker 2: says he wasn't the target and they were aiming at
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  Speaker 2: a Hamas operative. His family refutes.
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  Speaker 4: That it was also targeting the joy of the Palestinian
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  Speaker 4: people during the World Cup for Egypt, which raised the
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  Speaker 4: Palestinian flag before or any other flag or banner.
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  Speaker 2: Since last October cease fire, the UN says more than
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  Speaker 2: one thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been killed an inconsolable mother.
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  Speaker 2: Here grief is measured in generations, and yet life still
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  Speaker 2: finds a way. There might be no white paint, but
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  Speaker 2: there's water and rocks and a need to not be
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  Speaker 2: defined by war. Soccer is for everyone. A displaced camp
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  Speaker 2: becomes the pitch. Teams of Red and Blue play a
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  Speaker 2: homegrown World Cup.
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  Speaker 1: This game cannot change their reality, but at least it
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  Speaker 1: changes their mood for the day. You want to send
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  Speaker 1: a kind message to the world that we hope our
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  Speaker 1: lives can slowly get better from the current state.
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  Speaker 2: And so in this place where the war has taken
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  Speaker 2: so much, that the game gives kids the chance to
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  Speaker 2: be kids again with Sham's Ode and Gaza for the
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  Speaker 2: PBS News Hour Chrfriend