Ex-mayor of Johannesburg posts photos holding rifle, praising Hamas

A former mayor of Johannesburg, South Africa posts online a picture of himself holding an assault rifle accompanied with the words “we stand with Hamas,” before quickly pulling it offline.

The since-deleted post by Thapelo Amad read: “We stand with Hamas, Hamas stands with us, together we Palestin [sic] and Palestin [sic] will be free. Without souls, without our blood, we will conquer Al AQSA,” screen captures of it show.

Al-Aqsa is the name of a mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is the third-holiest site in Islam.

Amad, whose brief mayorship lasted only three weeks until April, yanked the post following media interest in the message, which is unusually combative even in a country whose president, Cyril Ramaphosa, recently accused Israel of perpetrating a “genocide.”

Amad has not responded to a query by The Times of Israel on why he removed the post.

Lior Haiat, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, tells The Times of Israel: “This is a despicable show of support for a terror organization. It’s making me sick to my stomach. This is a pure antisemitism of the worst kind.”