Algeria soccer star on trial in France for inciting hatred with Palestinian preacher post

Algerian international footballer Youcef Atal goes on trial in France, accused of inciting hatred after posting a video in which a Palestinian preacher threatens Israel with a “black day.”

Atal, who plays for Ligue 1 side Nice, shared the video on his Instagram account, which has 3.2 million followers, shortly after the attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel on October 7 in which they killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 240 hostages.

The 27-year-old defender, who quickly deleted the post and issued an apology, was suspended by his club while prosecutors probed the incident for suspected “justification of terrorism.”

But they dropped that line of investigation after watching the video and questioning the player, instead charging him with “incitement to religious hatred.”