Mainz football professional Anwar El Ghazi is causing a stir on Instagram with his pro-Palestine stance. He deletes a post on the social network.
Professional soccer player Anwar El Ghazi from Bundesliga club FSV Mainz 05 caused a stir with a post on Instagram that has since been deleted. The 28-year-old first shared a post that said, among other things: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” What is meant is that Palestine should extend from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. This, in a sense, denies Israel its right to exist. The post was later deleted. The club announced a statement on the Tuesday after the training-free Monday. “Bild” initially reported on the posts.
El Ghazi replaces profile picture
The Dutchman El Ghazi, who left PSV Eindhoven in the summer and moved to Mainz, also had a profile picture with the words “I stand with Palestine” in his Instagram profile until Monday. On Tuesday, that photo was replaced with an image of El Ghazi’s face. It initially remained unclear whether there would be further consequences for the football professional from Mainz.
Last weekend, Palestinian terrorists carried out a devastating attack on Israeli civilians on behalf of Hamas. So far there have been more than 1,300 deaths in Israel. A pro-Palestine contribution from Noussair Mazraoui from FC Bayern had previously caused a stir. The Munich team announced that they would talk to the defender as soon as he returned from his international trip with Morocco. It initially remained unclear whether there could be consequences for El Ghazi.
Mainz 05 professional with further posts
El Ghazi also shared a post from his wife on Sunday showing the professional with their son and the following text message: “Yesterday I was walking through the city with Malik and he heard the sound of a plane. Then he said: plane. All I could think about was how grateful I am that my baby heard the sound of a plane and not bombs. That’s a gift because no government is doing anything to stop Israel.”
El Ghazi not at training
According to consistent media reports from “Bild” and “Allgemeiner Zeitung”, the 28-year-old was not at team training on Tuesday. Instead, El Ghazi was in talks with those responsible for 05, as the club announced via the “Allgemeine Zeitung”. Afterwards, El Ghazi should train individually.
