Israel’s Defense Minister accuses Lamine Yamal of “inciting hatred,” while Sánchez expresses his pride in the footballer

Eduardo González Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has accused footballer Lamine Yamal of “inciting hatred” for waving a Palestinian flag during FC Barcelona’s La Liga title celebrations. “Lamine Yamal chose to incite against Israel and incite hatred while our soldiers are fighting the terrorist organization Hamas, an organization that massacred, raped, burned, and murdered Jewish children, women, and the elderly on October 7,” Katz posted on social media. “Anyone who supports this kind of message should ask themselves: Do they consider this humanitarian? Is this moral?” he continued. “As Defense Minister of the State of Israel, I will not remain silent in the face of incitement against Israel and the Jewish people,” he warned. “I hope that a large and respected club like FC Barcelona will distance itself from these statements and make it unequivocally clear that there is no place for incitement or support of terrorism,” he concluded. In response to these words, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, warned that “those who consider waving the flag of a state to be ‘inciting hatred’ have either lost their minds or been blinded by their own ignominy.” “Lamine has only expressed the solidarity with Palestine that millions of Spaniards feel. Yet another reason to be proud of him,” he posted on social media. During the tour of Barcelona on an open-top bus to celebrate the title, the player was seen waving a Palestinian flag for quite some time. This image did not sit well with FC Barcelona's coach, the German Hansi Flick: “These are things I don't usually like,” he declared at a press conference on Tuesday. “I spoke with him and told him that if he wants to do it, it's his decision; he's of legal age,” but “we dedicate ourselves to playing football, and we have to take into account what people expect of us,” he added. Lamine Yamal's gesture has been celebrated in the Gaza Strip, where two young Palestinians painted a mural on the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli operations, depicting the footballer with the Palestinian flag. For its part, the Palestinian Football Association simply posted a message on social media: “From Palestine… Thank you, Lamine Yamal.” Reactions in Spain Last Tuesday, Pedro Sánchez declined to comment on Lamine Yamal’s gesture, merely reiterating that “Spain has recognized the State of Palestine.” “From the very beginning, Spain condemned the Hamas attacks and has subsequently condemned the genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli authorities in the Gaza Strip and, of course, also the illegal occupation being carried out through settlements in the West Bank,” he continued. For her part, MP Tesh Sidi, of Sumar (the junior partner in Pedro Sánchez's coalition government), praised Lamine Yamal's decision to stand "on the right side of history," while MEP Irene Montero, of Podemos, posted a highly prescient message on social media: "It won't be long before we see the genocidal forces exterminating Palestine and devastating Lebanon claiming that Lamine Yamal is anti-Semitic for waving a Palestinian flag." Gabriel Rufián, MP for ERC, pointed out that "Lamine Yamal has 42 million followers on Instagram and an enormous influence on even more millions of people worldwide," and criticized "those who may have gone from indifference to denouncing the genocide in Gaza today simply because he waved a Palestinian flag." In a very different vein, the Deputy Secretary for Regional and Municipal Policy of the People's Party, Elías Bendodo, criticized the FC Barcelona player on Wednesday, arguing that "sport should not be mixed with other issues." This is not the first time political demands have been voiced during a sporting celebration. In July 2014, footballers Álvaro Morata (formerly of Chelsea) and Rodrigo (currently with Manchester City) chanted the slogan "Gibraltar is Spanish" during the celebrations in Madrid's Plaza de Cibeles following Spain's victory in the European Championship. The Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, described these actions as "repugnant," and the then-Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, downplayed the footballers' words, which were made "in a celebratory context," and asserted that "no one doubts that a country's foreign policy is established by that country's government."

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