10,022 people, including 4,104 children. At the time of writing, that’s how many Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
It’s a number that rises by the day, as more bodies are pulled out of the rubble. No place in Gaza and the surrounding area is safe from Israel’s bombardment. Not even refugee camps, ambulances and press vests are enough to protect people from the carnage.
Israel’s bombardments, which it says is retaliation against Hamas for its surprise attack on Oct. 7, have put Palestinians in Gaza at “grave risk of genocide,” according to the United Nations. It’s ignited pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the world, as well as wide-ranging calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
It’s also led to several active footballers — among other athletes — expressing their support for the people of Gaza and calling on political powers to treat Palestinians with humanity.
Unfortunately, some of those players have found themselves in hot water due to their humanitarian stances. Some of them have faced calls for suspension, and at least one Muslim footballer has had his contract terminated for his pro-Palestinian advocacy.
From Germany to France, here are 3 Muslim footballers who voiced support for Palestinians — and how their clubs and countries reacted to it.
Anwar El Ghazi
Like many Muslim and MENA footballers, Anwar El Ghazi shared a series of pro-Palestinian posts on his social media following the Oct. 7 attacks. One of these (now-deleted) posts contained the popular phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
To pro-Palestinians, this is a slogan calling for freedom from oppression for all Palestinians located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. But Israel and its backers have called the phrase pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic.
Mainz 05, which is based in Germany, seemed to believe the latter camp. On Oct. 17, the club suspended El Ghazi for his post, stating that the Dutch international “took a position … that was deemed unacceptable for the club.”
This suspension was reversed on Oct. 30, a few days after El Ghazi condemned the “killing of all innocent civilians in Palestine and Israel.” Mainz claimed that “in multiple conversations with the club,” El Ghazi had distanced himself from the Instagram post, expressed regret and remorse for publishing the post, and even stated that “he does not question Israel’s right to exist.”
However, El Ghazi disputed his club’s claims just two days later, on Nov. 1. He said he does not feel any remorse or regret for his position, that he does “not owe special responsibility to any state,” and there’s no justification for the killing of thousands of children in Gaza. He ended his new statement by calling for an end to the killing in Gaza.
El Ghazi’s comments on Nov. 1 were among the strongest any athlete has made on the topic. His statement specifically mentioned Israel’s attacks on Gaza, highlighted their role in killing thousands of Palestinian children, and insinuated that Mainz’s claims were not made or authorized by El Ghazi.
Taken aback by El Ghazi’s statement, Mainz terminated his contract on Nov. 3, just over a month after they signed him. But the 28-year-old, now a free agent, appeared to welcome the move.
“The loss of my livelihood is nothing when compared to the hell being unleashed on the innocent and vulnerable in Gaza,” he said shortly after his termination.
Noussair Mazraoui
As Anwar El Ghazi challenged his club in Mainz, Moroccan full-back Noussair Mazraoui was facing heat from his employer in Munich.
Like El Ghazi, Bayern Munich’s Mazraoui had taken to social media to express his support for Palestinians shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks. On Instagram, the 25-year-old shared an image of the Palestinian flag with a voiceover wishing victory to the Palestinians.
“God help our persecuted brothers in Palestine, so that they attain victory,” the voiceover said. “May God have mercy on the dead, may God heal their wounded.” Mazraoui had shared that clip with the word Ameen and a praying hands emoji.
Mazraoui’s wish for Palestinian victory attracted negative attention from some Germans. Johannes Steiniger, a member of the German federal parliament, demanded Mazraoui be extradited from Germany for his post; while Bayern management said they would speak to Mazraoui after his return from the international break.
Bayern’s move wasn’t a surprise given the club appears to be staunchly pro-Israel. On Oct. 8, the club wrote on X that they were “worried about our friends in Israel” — though they haven’t written a similar tweet for Palestinians yet.
What was surprising was the club’s decision on Oct. 20. After the club and player had a detailed and clarifying conversation, Bayern decided there would be no consequences for Mazraoui’s post.
“Noussair Mazraoui has credibly assured us that as a peace-loving person he resolutely rejects terror and war and he never meant to cause any irritation with his posts”, Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen explained in a statement that also said the club specifically stands “on the side of Israel.”
Although Mazraoui wasn’t suspended by the club, Bayern’s initial statement annoyed their Middle Eastern fanbase. On Oct 19, their official fan clubs across the MENA region released a joint statement rejecting the club’s statement and asking Bayern to respect Mazraoui’s position.
Since Bayern’s decision, Mazraoui has expressed a willingness to improve his relationship with local Jewish communities. He recently met with representatives of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, and shared a table with Bayern’s Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz during a club banquet.
Karim Benzema
One of the most prominent footballers to voice his support for Palestinians is Karim Benzema, winner of the 2022 Ballon d’Or for the world’s best footballer.
“All our prayers go out to the people of Gaza, victims once again of unjust bombings that spare neither women nor children,” Benzema tweeted on Oct. 15.
Benzema’s tweet was made six days after Israel imposed a total blockade on the Gaza Strip, and just two days after the IDF sent armoured vehicles and infantry into the region. At the time, 2,329 Palestinians were confirmed killed in Gaza.
Benzema’s tweet was widely praised and shared in the Arab and Muslim circles. But in his home country of France — which has been accused of promoting an Islamophobic culture through bans on abayas in public schools and crackdowns on French mosques — Benzema has faced backlash and even personal attacks.
A few days after Benzema’s tweet, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accused Benzema of having connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious and political group that’s considered a terrorist organization in France.
Darmanin didn’t provide any evidence to support his claim, and the player’s legal team denied the accusation. But that didn’t deter Senator Valérie Boyer from calling for Benzema, who holds both French and Algerian citizenship, to be stripped of his French citizenship.
“If the minister’s comments are true, we have to consider sanctions against Karim Benzema,” said Boyer, vice-president of the conservative Les Républicains party. “We cannot accept that a world-famous French binational can dishonour and even betray our country.”
That statement was later deleted from X, but Boyer re-stated her desire to strip the Lyon-born Benzema of both his French nationality and the 2022 Ballon d’Or.
For the time being, Benzema is a French citizen — and he’ll probably always be a French citizen, given he was born and raised in France. But the controversy surrounding the humanitarian stance he took on the bombardment of Gaza seems to call back to a famous quote he said in 2011: “Basically, if I score, I’m French, but if I don’t score, or there are problems, I’m an Arab.”
Headline image credit: AP
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