Cheers to Athletes Who Are Speaking Out in Support of the Palestinian People

May 17, 2021 | revcom.us

 

Editors’ Note: The following are edited excerpts from a letter we received from a reader.

Athletes are adding their voices in support of the Palestinian people and speaking out against the horrific violence by Israel that includes the brutal evictions of Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, the attacks on protesters, and the bombardment of Gaza that has killed at least 115 Palestinians, 27 of them children, as of this writing.

One of these athletes is Brooklyn Nets star NBA player, Kyrie Irving, who after Saturday night’s game said in front of reporters:

There’s a lot of things going on overseas. All our people are still in bondage across the world, and there’s a lot of dehumanization going on. It’s just too much going on in the world for me just to be talking about basketball.... It’s not just in Palestine, not just in Israel. It’s all over the world, and I feel it. I’m very compassionate to it—to all races, all cultures, and to see it, to see a lot of people being discriminated against based on their religion, color of their skin, what they believe in... it's just sad....

Damian Lillard, the Portland Trailblazers NBA All-Star, posted a “Solidarity with Palestine” poster on social media. Other U.S. athletes who are speaking out in support of Palestine are WNBA star Layshia Clarendon and soccer stars Tziarra King of the OL Reign and Margaret Melinda “Midge” Williams-Purce of the NJ/NY Gotham FC/TC. Jusuf Nurkić, who is from Bosnia and plays in the U.S. for the NBA Portland Trailblazers, posted on social media a quote from Nelson Mandela, “Freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

The international soccer community—including two of the world’s best players Paul Pogba and Mohamed Salah—have opposed the Israeli occupation of Palestine and have condemned the recent attacks on the Palestinian people in Jerusalem and Gaza. (See here for a news report on these and other athletes.)

Mesut Özil, Paul Pogba, and Mohamed Salah were among many other top athletes who expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people. Photo: Via Social Media

I wrote @msnbc about how a new internationalism defined by anti-racism is starting to reflect itself in the world of sports. #Palestine https://t.co/Y2VeMMBjUq

— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) May 14, 2021

Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers, Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers and Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets have all expressed support for Palestinians.