On Sunday, January 14th, Israeli player Sagiv Jehezkel was arrested by Turkey, suspended by his club Antalyaspor, and returned to Israel. The reason for that was displaying a message during the game that has the Stars of David, implying support for Israel.
Jehezkel displayed the message on a wristband in front of photographers. While pointing at it, the band had six Stars of David and “100 days, 7/10,” referring to the day when the current events started in Gaza. According to Turkish news media, his message was a call for the war to end.
The president of the Turkish club, Sinan Boztepe, referred to the player’s act as “propaganda.” On the other side, the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, said Jehezkel’s arrest was “scandalous.”
This comes after a similar incident this month when the Algerian footballer Youcef Atal was convicted in France over his social media post that showed support for Gaza. Atal was given an eight-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay a $49,000 fine. The player also apologized for the video.
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