Bundesliga club suspend ex-Premier League star for pro-Palestine message

Tom Weber

Updated: 17 Oct 2023 13:05 CDT
3 min read

Bundesliga side Mainz have suspended former Premier League attacker Anwar El Ghazi for a pro-Palestine social media post.

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El Ghazi, formerly of Everton, Aston Villa and Eredivisie giants Ajax and PSV, only recently signed for Jurgen Klopp's former team after a short stint as a free agent during which he was linked with a move to Manchester United. The 28-year-old featured in three games for Mainz before being suspended.

On his social accounts, El Ghazi had shown solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for national self-determination amid the ongoing conflict with Israel. A Dutchman with Moroccan roots, El Ghazi initially changed the profile picture on his social accounts to the Palestinian flag before sharing a message that contained the popular phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

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This phrase essentially means that the Palestinian people will eventually reclaim the land that has been systematically taken from them since the creation of Israel in 1948, a process that began even before the country's founding.

Sharing this on his accounts prompted a strong reaction from his club as the issue of Israeli statehood (for obvious historical reasons) is a touchy subject in Germany and the post could easily, it is argued in German media, be interpreted as El Ghazi supporting Hamas' terrorist attacks.

Mainz statement

The club released a statement that read: "1. FSV Mainz 05 has today suspended Anwar El Ghazi from his training and match duties. The suspension is a reaction to a now-deleted social media post published on Sunday evening by the 28-year-old."

"In said post, El Ghazi had voiced his opinion on the conflict in the Near East in a manner that the club could not tolerate. Prior to the suspension, a lengthy conversation between the board and the player had taken place."

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"Mainz 05 respects that there are different opinions on the decades-old, complex conflict in the Near East. However, the club distances itself strongly from the content of the post as it is not in line with the values of our club."