German soccer team sacks player for sharing ‘from the river to the sea’ post
Mainz gives boot to Anwar El Ghazi as prosecutors investigate him for ‘disturbing public peace by condoning criminal acts in conjunction with incitement to hatred’
MUNICH — Bundesliga club Mainz sacked soccer player Anwar El Ghazi on Friday, hours after German prosecutors opened an investigation over his social media posts on the Israel-Hamas war.
Mainz tweeted they were “ending the contractual relationship with Anwar El Ghazi and terminated the player with immediate effect.”
Mainz also clarified in a statement that they were “taking this action in response to the player’s statements and posts on social media.”
Earlier on Friday, German prosecutors said the Dutch player is suspected of “disturbing public peace by condoning criminal acts in conjunction with incitement to hatred” through his message on Instagram.
El Ghazi had shared several posts on social media early in the conflict, including one that carried the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a slogan used by Hamas and others to advocate for the destruction of Israel, since Israel, the West Bank and Gaza sit between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.
El Ghazi was suspended by Mainz on October 17 over the post but the club later said the player could return after he “explicitly distanced himself” from the statements.
But El Ghazi on Wednesday took to social media again to say “I do not regret or have any remorse for my position.
“Any other statements, comments or apologies to the contrary attributed to me are not factually correct and have not been made or authorized by me.”
Mainz had reacted to the latest salvo with “surprise and incomprehension,” saying it would “examine the matter legally and then evaluate it.”
El Ghazi was signed on September 22 by Mainz and played just 51 minutes in total for the club in three matches.
Hamas launched a shock assault in southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,400 people and taking over 240 hostages into Gaza. Most of those slain were civilians tortured and slaughtered in their homes and at a music festival.
In response Israel launched a war against Hamas, pledging to eradicate the terror organization that rules Gaza, and began a blistering bombardment of terror targets in the territory.
The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza says over 9,200 people have been killed in Israel’s bombardment, most of them civilians. The numbers cannot be independently verified, and some Israeli officials have expressed doubts regarding their veracity. They also do not differentiate between terror operatives and civilians.
