LAHORE: The recent fixture between Palestine and Pakistan national football teams in Ramallah may not be a cause of delight for the latter — Palestine won 2-1 — but it is memorable for them because they had the rare opportunity to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque, situated in a country that is even not recognized by Pakistan.

The Pakistani team visited Islam’s third holiest site on Thursday to the surprise of many, as Pakistan has never acknowledged the Jewish state.

Pakistani governments, media and religious leadership have always propagated that Israel was a usurper state. A standard Pakistani passport clearly states that it is “valid for all countries of the world except Israel.”

Palestine won the friendly match played on Friday at Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium, Ramallah. Pakistani players visited the mosque before the match while on their way to Ramallah city after landing in Amman, Jordan.

“Yes. The Pakistan football team visited Al-Aqsa Mosque in Israel prior to their fixture with Palestine. They offered prayers there,” the Head, League Development and Media, Pakistan Football Federation, Shahid Khokhar, confirmed to Arab News. “It is not the first time as another Pakistan football team visited the same holy place some five years ago. 

“The Pakistan team was received by the executive director of the Palestine Football Association, Firas Abu Hilal, at Amman and traveled to Ramallah. The Palestinian Authority arranged the Pakistani team’s visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque by arrangement with the Israel Government. Neither the Pakistan official nor any other authority contacted the Israeli administration or sought a visa. This was completely arranged by the Palestinian Authority,” Khokhar told Arab News.

The recent visit of Pakistani players has attracted much interest as Pakistan has pursued backchannel diplomacy with the Jewish state in the past.

More recently there was speculation that an Israeli business jet flew from Tel Aviv to Pakistan via Amman in Jordan, though the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government vehemently denied such reports and said they were part of a conspiracy against the country.

Senior political analyst Salim Bokhari dropped hints about the possibility of an implied recognition of the state of Israel at some point.

“The story started with the Israeli plane allegedly landing in Islamabad. Now the Pakistan football team landed in Israeli-controlled Al Aqsa Mosque. What is this? Are we heading toward recognizing the state of Israel?,” he asked.

According to veteran politician and former Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Raja Zafarul Haq, the Palestine National Authority itself offers visiting Muslim delegations the opportunity to offer prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“It is a common practice for the Palestinian Authority to get the delegations of Muslim countries to Al-Aqsa Mosque. I personally attended several conferences in Palestine and the authority offered to take me to Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Haq told Arab News.

“The Palestinian Authority makes all arrangements itself, including seeking permission from the Israeli authorites. They do not even need a passport for this purpose,” he concluded.