Bundesliga 2 football club According to Bild, Fortuna Düsseldorf has backed away from signing Israeli striker Shon Weissman after fans reacted to his past social media remarks about the Gaza conflict.
Having already had a physical in Düsseldorf, 29-year-old Weissman was on the cusp of joining Granada CF, but an internet uproar from supporters caused the club to change direction. On Tuesday, the club said:
“We looked into Shon Weissman intensively, but ultimately decided not to sign him.”
While the club did not provide the basis for the decision, Bild said the club reacted to fan outrage about social media remarks made by Weissman, who was already in Dusseldorf and had passed a medical evaluation.
Having 33 Israel caps, the center forward released a number of social media postings following the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel that started the Gaza war.
Weissman asked Israel to “wipe Gaza off the map” and “drop 200 tons of bombs on it,” Bild reported.
The 29-year-old had also liked posts claiming “there are no innocents [in Gaza]; they don’t need to be warned.”
Having removed the posts shortly after posting them, Weissman has since admitted he acted in the heat of the moment and erred.
On Monday, supporters in Dusseldorf started an internet petition claiming Weissman’s remarks are in sharp contrast to the ideals Fortuna “stands for and tries to promote” and are “disrespectful and discriminatory.”
Already the target of fan demonstrations in Granada, Weissman joined a side in January 2023.
Bild said that Dusseldorf and Weissman intended to release a formal apology for the posts following the signing. After 22 months of fighting in Gaza triggered by the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas that killed 1,219 people and saw hundreds kidnapped, the Israeli army has destroyed vast areas of the Palestinian land. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, more than 60,933 Palestinians have died; humanitarian organizations have warned that the 2.4 million residents are slipping into a catastrophic famine.
As it has tried to make amends for the Holocaust, Germany has long been a consistent ally of Israel; yet, worry over the humanitarian disaster in Gaza has grown very much.
Previously, the war had an effect on German professional football.
Bundesliga team Mainz chose to release Anwar El Ghazi in 2023 for comments made on social media regarding the war.
A Dutch international of Moroccan descent, El Ghazi prevailed in a German court wrongful termination action versus the club, which has now appealed.
