Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny appears to show his support for Palestine in their ongoing conflict with Israel as the Egyptian changes his Instagram profile picture to their flag
- Elneny has changed his profile picture on Instagram to the Palestinian flag
- It comes days after team-mate Oleksandr Zinchenko posted support for Israel
- Arsenal previously spoke to Elneny after a pro-Palestine post back in 2021
It comes after Hamas launched rocket strikes on Israel and invaded parts of the country, killing civilians and kidnapping others with swift retaliation later following.
Elneny’s change on his profile comes just days after team-mate Oleksandr Zinchenko decided to restrict his Instagram profile from the public after being targeted by online social media trolls after posting that he ‘stands with Israel’.
Egyptian international Elneny, 31, previously posted a message of support for Palestine back in 2021, tweeting: ‘My heart and my soul and my support for you Palestine,’ followed by a picture of the Palestine flag and a peace emoji.
Mohamed Elneny’s Instagram account now has a Palestinian flag as the profile picture
Elneny, who has 5.4 million followers on Instagram, appears to have shown his support for Palestine
It comes amid their ongoing conflict with Israel with Hamas terrorists launching rocket strikes on Israel and invading parts of the country
They told Sky Sports News at the time: ‘As with any employees of Arsenal, our players are entitled to express their views on their own platforms.
‘That said we spoke to Mo about this so he understands the wider implications of his post.
‘As a club, we are committed to confronting and eliminating all forms of discrimination and continue to champion the need for equality and diversity across all areas of life.’
According to the Jewish Chronicle, the post provoked anger from Arsenal’s Jewish fans because it included an image called ‘Palestine Lives Matter’, which featured an outline of Israel filled with pro-Palestine images.
Zinchenko has been a voice of support for his home nation of Ukraine during their ongoing conflict with Russia after Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion that first began in February last year.
The Arsenal defender demonstrated his unity with Israel in a similar fashion to many world leaders by posting an image on his Instagram story.
Elneny’s profile change comes days after Oleksandr Zinchenko showed his support for Israel
The Ukrainian posted this on Instagram, stating that he ‘stands with Israel’ though he ended up restricting his account following comments on the social media website
Showing the Star of David – a religious symbol recognized by the Jewish community which is Israel’s main religion – the story update read: ‘I stand with Israel’.
However, his post opened the floodgates for anonymous abusers to target Zinchenko with outrageous retorts that show the dark side of social media.
Zinchenko as a result decided to restrict his Instagram account.
Other footballers have previously weighed in on the feud between Israel and Palestine with Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Salah, and Mesut Ozil making public social media statements two years ago calling for an end to military violence in the region.
Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather was the latest high-profile name to voice his support, writing on Instagram: ‘I stand with Israel against the Hamas terrorists. Hamas does not represent the people of Palestine but is a terrorist group that is attacking innocent lives!
‘I stand for all humans and wish for the safe return of all Americans and Israelis and any human who were kidnapped as hostages during these horrific war crimes.’
Mail Sport has approached Arsenal for comment.
More to follow…
