France Convicts Algerian Footballer Youcef Atal Over Gaza Post
On Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024, Algerian Footballer Youcef Atal was convicted by a French court over a social media post on Gaza under the claim that it carries anti-Semitic and hateful remarks.
The 27-year-old OGC Nice defender was called on trial for ‘incitement to hatred’, during which he was given an eight-month suspended sentence for a post he shared after the October 7th events. The Nice criminal court also ordered him to pay a $49,000 fine.
The reposted video in question was of the Muslim preacher Mahmoud al-Hasanat, in which he prayed for the children in Gaza and said, “may god guide the hand of Gaza Palestinians to strike back.” However, Atal has deleted the post and apologized for it after backlash saying that he’d “never support a message of hate.”
During his court hearing in December, Atal apologized again, saying he had wanted to send a “message of peace” and didn’t watch the entire 35-second video before posting it.
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