Israeli Soccer Player Cut By Turkish Club, Arrested By Govt. For Displaying Pro-Israel Message

The Turkish government arrested and will launch an investigation into an Israeli soccer player for supporting his country.

On Sunday, 28-year-old Sagiv Jehezkel scored a goal for his Turkish club Antalyaspor of the Trendyol Süper Lig. As part of his celebration, Jehezkel displayed a pro-Israel message written on the bandage covering his left hand.

The message read “100 Days, 7.10” and had a Star of David incorporated in the message. This refers to the Israel-Hamas conflict, which escalated Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel. Furthermore, he drew attention to the Israelis Hamas has held hostage for those 100 days.

Israeli Player Will Face Punishment For His Actions

You’d think nothing serious would happen to Jehezkel because of this. But because we live in an insane world, the Israeli star suffered serious consequences.

Not only did Antalyaspor cut him from the team, the Turkish government arrested him. That’s right, Jehezkel - an Israeli - faced serious consequences for showing solidarity with his own country.

It gets more ridiculous. The Turkish government announced it will launch an investigation into the Israeli’s actions and have already arrested him.

“The Antalya public prosecutor’s office has opened a judicial investigation against Israeli footballer Sagiv Jehezkel for public incitement to hate due to his odious celebration in favor of the massacre committed by Israel in Gaza,” Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said. “We will continue to support the oppressed Palestinians.” 

Any sane person will look at this quote and realize the Turkish government has no basis for the investigation. How Jehezkel’s message counts as “public incitement to hate” beats me. He didn’t ask people to attack Palestinians, or even threaten anyone. Even so, the Turkish government feels the need to target a man who unjustifiably got cut from his team for no good reason. What’s more, the Islamic nation decided to voice support for a terrorist organization.

Just another day in our anti-semitic world.