The widespread belief that Argentina represents Israel and Spain represents Palestine is wrong and does not reflect reality.
Spain, as a whole, does not support Palestine. This support does not exist at the team level; rather, it comes more from the individual positions of certain players (such as Lamine Yamal and Borja Iglesias).
The majority of Spanish supporters are not left-wing either. On the contrary, racist circles in Spain can use the national team as a tool against players of immigrant backgrounds. Muslim and immigrant-origin footballers in particular are frequently targeted. This reality is often overlooked because the country's prime minister has shown solidarity with Palestine.
During the tournament, racist circles in Spain repeatedly targeted Lamine Yamal through social media posts and public statements.
The perception of Spain as an extremely left-wing country among the global public is largely influenced by the strong Palestine solidarity movements and left-wing communities in regions such as Euskal Herria, Catalonia, Galicia, and Andalusia. However, a significant portion of the pro-Palestinian population in these regions does not support the Spanish National Team; they advocate for their own national identities and national teams.
Argentina, too, does not support Israel institutionally or at the national team level.
The country's far-right president, Javier Milei, is an open supporter of Israel. zionist circles use this fact to create the impression that there is some deep-rooted and societal alliance between Argentina and Israel.
In reality, there is no strong public support in Argentina for Israel's attacks on Gaza. On the contrary, massive demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine have taken place across the country.
Lionel Messi is not an open supporter of Israel either. When this is pointed out, people usually ask, “So does he support Palestine?” No. Messi is not one of the figures who has publicly taken a side on this issue. Like thousands of other footballers, he prefers not to share his political views publicly.
The claim that Argentine society is largely racist, as well as the claim that the vast majority of Argentinians support Israel, are both generalizations produced on social media. These are narratives that far-right groups and zionist circles would like to spread. We should not fall into this trap.
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