Arsenal seems to have run into some problems because of a political post made by Mohamed Elneny.
The midfielder recently put out a tweet in support of Palestine in their ongoing fighting with Israel.
Footballers are encouraged to be neutral in situations like this, but it seems that the midfielder could not hold his peace and came out in support of his fellow Muslims in the troubled territory.
Mirror Football reports that the midfielder tweeted: “My heart my soul, my support for you Palestine.”
This has angered Arsenal sponsor, the Lavazza Group and the report says they are currently holding urgent talks with the Gunners about his behaviour.
Tal Ofer, a member of the board of British Jews, placed pressure on the club’s sponsors to respond to the tweet.
This forced them to release a statement which reads: “We’ll immediately reach out to Arsenal to remark we are concerned about the club associated with such a message.
“Content of this post is totally not aligned with our company values. Lavazza Group is fully committed against racism and antisemitism.”
Ofer also took aim at Arsenal and said: “sad that Arsenal did not want to deal with this more seriously, I would expect better from them than this.”
But the club told The Jewish Chronicle: “As with any employees of Arsenal, our players are entitled to express their views on their own platforms.
“That said, we are speaking to Mo about this so he understands the wider implications of his post.
“As a club we are committed to confronting and eliminating all forms of discrimination and continue to champion the need for equality and diversity across all areas of life.”
He’s entitled to his opinion but if you are a professional footballer in the public eye you should probably be thinking a bit further down the line than just your current emotions.
Wow! Just WOW!!! So, showing your support for an oppressed people, is considered hate speech or anti Semitic to some. While the Semites have a known an documented hatred for the “Semites” they are currently in the process of literally exterminating…Unbelievable
I’d rather not talk politics but if you are going to at least get your facts straight.
For decades the small nation of Israel has been targeted by the multiple, larger Islamic countries surrounding it. The fact that their military is extremely good is what really keeps the country safe.
Neither side are innocent at all.
It was the Balfour agreement that put the Israelis there to begin with……. look up the map of the world before that event
Balfour déclaration… pardon me
@PJ-SA
My facts are straight. While it your”opinion”, as much as you didn’t want to talk politics, is based on revisionist histrionics. The Balfour Declaration saw to Palestine being stripped of it’s statehood. All because a religious people claimed their god promised them that land. FACT…
And Israels military might( 5th most advanced in the world) is attributed to the backing from Europe and America. Regardless of the atrocities they commit against the Palestinian people. FACT
I didn’t want to delve that deep into it…. but you pretty much said it all
But history has called that land Judea for how long? Long before the Declaration, but that’s only if you prefer factual history over revisionist history.
But when the Jews were put there the land at that moment ruled by Palestinians. British and French setlled Jews there who were welcomed with open arms by Palestinians. Same people then slowly took over their land and started throwing them out of their houses backed by Western power. Can you explain to me how did Israel became who is not bigger then a big city become so powerful military wise when they don’t have those sort of resources. The military tech and power they have is well beyond proper bigger countries. How can you even match them with poor Palestinians who have nothing as compared to proper well equipped Israeli military. Palestinians can never be aggressors because they don’t have the means or power to be one. Even what is happening today was kicked off by Israeli forces marching on and thrashing innocent Palestinian ppl just praying in mosque. Where is the world media and UN now. I am pretty sure If it was other way around by now US and western states would have already started a joint mission against them.
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It’s time for Elneny to be sold or benched for this statement. He should just ask Ozil it went.
@Atid
What exactly did he say in the post that was”anti-semitic”? Yet your whole post is littered with your bigoted opinion…He showed support for people in distress, literally. How that insults anyone is beyond humane belief…
He has done the right thing along with footballers they are humans and should air their voice if they see something worng. Religion is bigger then football so football is just there in life to being entertainment it’s not life. He has done the right thing and i support him completely, he is brave even though this might be taken against him. Forget about the club, they tend to be political when it suits them and if they can earn money from it but if it’s something which can hurt the club finencially then all of a sudden they become political neutral, all the morals go out of window.
Just because you are going to be in trouble with sponsorships so you should not raise your voice against something going wrong? Ozil did the right thing and so did Elneney. Why did Arsenal participated in Blake life matter because that was also from same category but they did because that will benefit them thats why not because it was right thing to do. I am pretty sure if that had some sort of sponsorship back clash they would not have supported that either.
I don’t believe the issue is his support for the Palestinian people. No-one could be upset for that given how dire the situation is for most Palestinians.
I think the issue was he posted an image with a map in which all of Israel was filled with the Palestinian flag / colours. This is contentious because Hamas (the organisation that administers Gaza) has called for the destruction of Israel and does not recognise the right for the State to exist. Posting a map of Israel filled with Palestinian colours implies he supports this (the destruction of Israel) which is why many have taken offence.
@Ben
While the rest of the world watches the extermination of the Palestinian people. Not to mention most are against Palestinian statehood. Got it…
Kinda like the rest of the world watched the Jewish people get exterminated in the 1930’s and early 40’s.
It’s disgusting all the way around, and neither side is innocent or all wrong.
However, calling for anyone to be “exterminated” should never be tolerated or excused.
@Durand
The rest of the world did not stand by and watch the jews be exterminated. Had you been paying attention in class, you would have learned of the 2/two world wars fought to eradicate the ideology as well as those responsible for such suffering.
Such a shame that the very same people who were saved from said suffering, managed to turn around 2 years later and inflict the same suffering on others, for 71 uninterrupted years. So, if you want to bring up the horrors of the holocaust, then you must also acknowledge the Nakba.
*Btw
Judea, was part of Palestine….
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imagine having time to be offended by a map tho…
Arsenal stay quiet about this stuff. ozil was not punished despite conspiracy theories, elneny will nto be punished either. not the best comparison anyways considering Ozil’s reach is 10x Elneny’s. Though I do recognize Elneny is a pretty recognizable player in Africa
Nothing anti-semetic about being against a nation bombing children.
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A free man can say whatever he wants, it’s a free world!
Absolutely ridiculous when suits these ppl then it’s freedom of speech and when it does not it’s hate speech. Until the lions tell the story the hunters will always be the Hero.
There is always more coffee to be had…
With Moh all theme way on this one, whether it’s China or Israel, crimes against humanity should not be glossed over. The Kroenke’s being arch conservative right wing establishment might have a different view though. More reasons to want them out.