Sanchez and Puente attack Israel after Katz’s comments against Lamine Yamal

The public support shown by young Barcelona star Lamine Yamal for Palestine sparked a wave of widespread reactions from both politicians and public spectators.

This followed comments by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who defended the player in the face of a sharp attack launched by Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz. Previously, this attack occurred after Yamal raised the Palestinian flag during his team’s celebrations of the Spanish League title.

Lamine Yamal feels the support

Sanchez said, in a blog post on the “X” platform, that:

Those who consider raising a country’s flag incitement to hatred have either lost their minds or been blinded by their shame.

Commenting on Yamal’s expression of solidarity, the Spanish prime minister said his position represents “an additional reason to be proud of him.” He also defended him saying that he was only:

expressing the solidarity with Palestine felt by millions of Spaniards.

Sanchez’s defence of the player continued at a press conference held on 12 May. During the event, Sanchez made it clear that the player’s behaviour was in line with official Spanish policy  consistent with  official Spanish policy. In addition, he referred to Madrid’s recognition of the State of Palestine and its condemnation of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and settlements in the West Bank.

In the same context, Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente entered the crisis line, attacking Israel for criticising the Barcelona player. He did this through a post on the “X” platform in which he responded to Katz’s statements. In the post, he denounced what he described as ”barbarism” in Gaza, and accused Israel of “turning life into ruin”.

The crisis erupted after Yamal, 18 years old, waved the Palestinian flag during Barcelona’s Spanish League title celebrations in the streets of the Catalan city. Afterwards, he published a picture of himself carrying the flag on his account on “Instagram”, which sparked widespread interaction among fans and on social media platforms.

On the other hand, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz launched a direct attack on the player, claiming that Lamine Yamal “chose to incite against Israel and spread hatred”, as he described it. He also called on FC Barcelona to disavow the player’s behavior and emphasize “that there is no place for incitement to terrorism”, according to his claim.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

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