By Sammy Baroud
These are just a few of the athletes who have shown support for the people of Gaza following the devastating war on besieged Strip has taken place in the last few days at the hands of the Israelis.
While there isn’t a shortage of Western support for Israel, many celebrities, especially athletes, have not compromised on their values and have publicly shown their support for the Palestinian people and the people of Gaza.
Al Ittihad striker, former Real Madrid captain, Ballon d’Or winner, and football legend Karim Benzema has recently shown his support for Gaza. He wrote a post on Twitter in French, which translates to:
“All our prayers for the people of Gaza, once again victims of these unfair bombardments that do not even spare women and children.”
Toutes nos prières pour les habitants de Gaza victimes une fois de plus de ces bombardements injustes qui n’épargnent ni femmes ni enfants.
— Karim Benzema (@Benzema) October 15, 2023
Undefeated Dagestani Russian MMA legend, Khabib Nurmagomedov, has repeatedly been reposting pro-Palestine Instagram posts on his story.
He also recently posted an Islamic reminder on his account captioning the post “Palestinians – numbers never matter, when Allah is with you”.
View this post on Instagram
Mohammed El Neny, Egyptian national team player and arsenal midfielder has also shown support by changing his Instagram account’s profile picture to a Palestinian flag waving in front of the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem.
He has 5.5 million followers.
Riyad Mahrez, Al Ahly winger, former Manchester City player and Algerian national team star, also posted a picture of him posing with the Palestinian flag, after Algeria’s most recent 5-1 victory over Cape Verde, alongside fellow Algerian teammates Ahmed Touba of the Italian Lecce and Said Benrahma of West Ham United.
The Moroccan national team defender and FC Bayern Munich player Noussair Mazroaui has also made his support for Palestine vocal, posting a Dua for Palestine and their victory on his Instagram story.
He also wrote ‘Ameen’ with the praying hands emoji on the post.
UFC Lightweight Champion of the world and Khabibs successor Islam Makhachev has also posted many pro-Palestine reels and Duas on his Instagram stories.
Maria Guardiola:
“So is this really what we're going to do now? Just sit back and watch a genocide happen on the telly? Then decades from now, when it's in the history books, all look round at each other and ask, 'how did that happen?'” pic.twitter.com/MZ41x42LOH
— City Chief (@City_Chief) October 14, 2023
The Dagestani fighters have all consistently shown support for Gaza and the Palestinians.
Undefeated Checnyan-Swedish UFC fighter Khamzat Chimaev has also shown support sharing Duas on his story as well as appearing in Tam Khan’s story with a Palestinian flag and the caption “People’s Champion”.
Jordan National Team and Montpellier Striker Moussa Tamari, who is also currently tied with others as the 2nd highest scorer this season in Ligue 1, has also been very vocal about his support for Gaza.
He has been actively posting on social media in support of Gaza, as well as recently posting a picture of himself on Instagram while wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh during a Jordan national team outing.
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These are only just a few of the celebrity athletes who have shown support for the people of Gaza in the ongoing Israeli war, which has killed and wounded thousands.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Sammy Baroud is a young Palestinian-American Sports Writer and an aspiring footballer. He contributed this article to the Palestine Chronicle. Follow him @sammybaroud
