Eran Zahavi replaces Paul Pogbas Palestine flag with Israels on Instagram post

Pogba and Diallo were handed the Palestine flag by Manchester United supporters, 10,000 of whom had been allowed into Old Trafford for the club’s final home game of the English Premier League season.

The pair carried flag on the team’s lap of honour before the Israel international swapped it out for an Israeli flag in a crude bit of photo editing.

Zahavi, who now plays at PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie after leaving Guangzhou R&F midway through last season, did similar with a picture of Leicester City players after their FA Cup win last Saturday.

French-born footballers follow NBA’s Gobert support for Xinjiang’s Uygurs

Hamza Choudhury and Wesley Fofana were pictured carrying a Palestine flag around the Wembley pitch after beating Chelsea 1-0.

Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, thanked the pair in a letter posted on Twitter.

“Carrying the Palestinian flag on the stage of one of football’s most august cup competitions is a show of support that is reverberating all over Palestine,” Zomlot said.

Zahavi also thanked the pair for carrying the Israeli flag in his doctored photo.

“Thanks for your support,” Zahavi wrote on that Instagram story, along with a praying emoji.

Pogba had previously posted on Instagram asking his followers to “Pray for Palestine” but the Manchester United and Leicester City players are not the only footballers to show support for Palestine.

Former CSL star Demba Ba calls on football to condemn Uygur treatment

Mesut Ozil and his Fenerbahce teammates wore T-shirts with “Free Palestine” written in Turkish before a recent game.

Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez, Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah have all posted on social media.

Salah called on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to act on the crisis.

“I’m calling on all the world leaders including on the Prime Minister of the country that has been my home for the past 4 years to do everything in their power to make sure the violence and killing of innocent people stops immediately. Enough is enough. @BorisJohnson,” Salah wrote on Twitter.

Elneny’s Twitter post, where he wrote “my heart and my soul and my support for you Palestine” resulted in criticism from Jewish groups and questions asked of the club.

Tal Ofer, deputy at the Board of Deputies of British Jews, wrote to Arsenal and the club’s sponsors, with coffee brand Lavazza expressing concerns.

Cologne and Mesut Ozil count cost of China backlash

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer defended Pogba and Diallo.

“We have players from different backgrounds, different cultures, different countries and I think we need to respect their views if they differ from someone else’s,” the Norwegian told the media.

“If my players think about other things than football that’s a positive thing.”

Zahavi has played 62 times for Israel, scoring 25 goals, although the former skipper was once banned from the national team for 12 months after unsporting behaviour in a game against Macedonia.

He was suspended for a year after throwing his captain’s armband to the floor at the end of the game in September 2017. The Israel Football Association also said he could never captain the country again.

01:26

Arsenal star Mesut Ozil faces backlash for Uygur comments

Arsenal star Mesut Ozil faces backlash for Uygur comments

The striker, who was playing in the Chinese Super League at the time after signing for Guangzhou in 2016, resigned from international duty in response.

“I made a mistake and I apologise,” Zahavi wrote on Instagram at the time. “I have decided to be true to myself and what I feel to be correct. It is important to me that you know that I always gave my all to the team, I want to announce my resignation from the team.

“At the end of the day, I am a person who has feelings, who takes things to heart, who is offended, and also sometimes makes mistakes, as we all do,” he continued.

“After a long day of deliberation, and conversations with my family and people who have been with me throughout my career, I want to spare you all the committees, the punditry, the [newspaper] columns and court martials that everyone is giving me.”

Zahavi returned to the squad in August 2018, less than a year after the September 2017 qualifier against Macedonia.

“Eran Zahavi returns to service for the national team and will be included in the squad for the opening of the [UEFA] Nations League,” the IFA posted on Facebook, with the news accompanied by an apology from Zahavi.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51kwLG70a1mn6efqa%2BiuMtomKusmZi5pnuSamptaGFlfKa%2BwKdks5mYlsOqedGep6WZk5rAbrzArqNmqJ%2Bcr6K%2FjKmYpZ2jqbavsYyfo5qfXZ7As63EpapmoZ6owaKz0Zqk