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French Muslim Olympic Runner Suspended for ‘Unacceptable’ Anti-Israel, Antisemitic Social Media Posts
Paris 2024 Olympics – Athletics – Men’s 4 x 400m Relay Round 1 – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – August 09, 2024. Muhammad Abdallah Kounta of France in action during heat 2. Photo: Reuters/Sarah Meyssonnier
A French Muslim sprinter who recently competed in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris has been suspended by the French Athletics Federation for posting antisemitic and anti-Israel messages on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Two-time Olympian Muhammad Abdallah Kounta, 29, who competed in the 4×400-meter men’s and mix relay races during the Paris Olympics, posted hateful messages on X that “are as shocking as they are unacceptable,” France’s Minister of Sports Amelie Oudea-Castera said Wednesday in a French-language post on X.
“The federation’s president confirmed he has suspended the athlete and referred the matter both to the public prosecutor and to the federation’s disciplinary committee,” Oudea-Castera added.
A day earlier, an X account by the name Sword of Solomon drew attention to some controversial French-language tweets posted by Kounta between 2021 and 2024. In the various posts, Kounta praised Hamas terrorists responsible for the Oct. 7 deadly attacks in Israel, “incited hatred of Israel, trivialized the Holocaust and quoted a surah [chapter] from the Koran considering Jews and Christians as enemies,” according to Sword of Solomon, which also shared screenshots of the athlete’s tweets. Kounta additionally reposted a tweet that described France as a “country of degenerate racists” and liked the Facebook page of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is internationally designated as a terrorist organization.
After his old posts on X were resurfaced, Kounta — who made his Olympic debut in the 2020 Tokyo Games – posted a picture on social media of himself wrapped in a French flag and wrote in the caption: “I am French, Muslim and proud.” He then apologized if he had offended people with his past remarks.
“I’m against genocides and all forms of racism or injustice, and I don’t think I need to prove how much I love my country,” Kounta said. “People who were there in the Stade de France [where the athletic events took place] can attest to that fact.”
France has seen a record surge in antisemitic incidents since Hamas’ atrocities on Oct. 7, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.
The post French Muslim Olympic Runner Suspended for ‘Unacceptable’ Anti-Israel, Antisemitic Social Media Posts first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.