Spain defends soccer star Yamal over Israeli criticism of Palestinian flag display |
JTA — Spain’s government is defending soccer star Lamine Yamal after Israel’s defense minister accused Yamal of inciting “hatred” against Israel for waving a Palestinian flag during his team’s celebrations following a title win.
Yamal, 18, whose father is Moroccan, is a phenom on the FC Barcelona team. He waved the Palestinian flag while riding in an open-top bus during FC Barcelona’s celebrations after winning Spain’s top professional soccer league title, La Liga, on May 11.
Following the parade in Barcelona, which drew roughly 750,000 supporters, Yamal posted a photo of himself waving the flag on his Instagram account, which has over 42 million followers.
The display prompted sharp criticism from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who tweeted that Yamal had chosen to “incite against Israel and foster hatred while our soldiers are fighting the terrorist organization Hamas.”
Katz called on FC Barcelona to distance itself from Yamal’s actions and “make it unequivocally clear that there is no place for incitement or for support of terrorism,” according to a translation of his remarks by Politico.
Following the display, Barcelona’s coach Hansi Flick told........