The Dutch footballer of Moroccan origin, Anwar El Ghazi, responded to the decision of the German club Mainz to terminate his contract, following his comments regarding the war in Gaza, noting that this is “nothing compared to the hell that innocent people are exposed to in Gaza.”
On Friday, the German club Mainz terminated its contract with Al-Ghazi after his posts on social media, and two days after the player objected to the club’s statement regarding the incident, which led to his suspension for days.
The club wrote in a statement on the “X” platform on Friday: “We have terminated the contract with Anwar Al-Ghazi immediately,” adding that the action was “in response to the player’s statements and publications on social media platforms.”
Al-Ghazi (28 years old) responded to the club’s statement with a post on Instagram, in which he said: “Stand with the truth, even if you will stand alone. Losing my source of livelihood is nothing compared to the hell that the innocent and vulnerable in Gaza are experiencing. Stop the killing.”
On Friday, German prosecutors opened an investigation into Al-Ghazi’s publications related to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas (classified as terrorist in the United States).
Prosecutors in Germany said that Al-Ghazi was suspected of “disturbing public peace by condoning criminal acts and inciting hatred” through his posts on Instagram, according to AFP.
The former player for Ajax, Eindhoven, Lille, Aston Villa, and Everton posted posts on social media in support of the Palestinians, including a post that included the phrase, “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea,” before deleting this post.
Mainz said on Wednesday that this message was not consistent with the club’s values and the player was suspended, before Al-Ghazi announced in another post, on Friday, condemning “the killing of innocent civilians in Palestine and Israel,” after which the club revealed the player’s return to training again.
The club indicated that during conversations with Al-Ghazi, he “distanced himself from his message published on his Instagram account (October 17), which he himself deleted a few minutes later.”
The club added that he (the player) “regrets spreading the message and its negative impact.”
But the player confirmed in a later statement that he “does not regret” his position, and added: “I do not feel any regret for my position. I do not distance myself from what I said or support today until my last breath for the sake of humanity and the oppressed,” without repeating the formula “from the river to the sea.” Palestine will be liberated,” calling for “an end to the killing in Gaza.”
On October 7, the Hamas movement, classified as a terrorist organization in the United States and other countries, launched an attack on Israel, launching thousands of rockets and infiltrating towns and areas surrounding the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, including women and children. .
Israel responded to the attack with intense bombing of Gaza and a ground incursion, which caused the death of more than 9,227 Palestinians, the majority of whom were civilians, including women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
2023-11-04 04:07:21
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