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German Soccer Club Backtracks on Signing Israeli Player Shon Weissman Following Outcry Over His Israel Support
Shon Weissman of Granada CF during the match between Granada CF and FC Cartagena of La Liga Hypermotions on April 20, 2025, at Cartagonova Stadium in Granada, Spain. Photo: IMAGO/Samuel Carreno via Reuters Connect
The German soccer club Fortuna Düsseldorf has backed out of plans to sign Israeli striker Shon Weissman, who has stirred controversy with past comments on social media in support of Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, Fortuna Düsseldorf said in a German language statement on social media that it intensely looked into having Weissman, 29, join its club but “ultimately decided to refrain from signing him.”
The second-division soccer team was close to finalizing a €500,000 deal to have Weissman transfer from the Spanish club soccer Granada CF, local German media reported recently. After the news went public, fans of the German soccer team shared screenshots of since-deleted, online posts by Weissman in which the Haifa native expressed support for the Israel Defense Forces and its military operations in the Gaza Strip following the Hamas mass terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The athlete was accused by anti-Israel social media users of supporting genocide and “the mass bombing of civilians in Gaza.”
Weissman liked and reposted messages that said “wipe Gaza off the map” and suggested there were “no innocents” in the Gaza Strip, according to Haaretz. Weissman’s agent, Boaz Goren, said that the posts and likes were not by Weissman but a social media manager who had access to his accounts, the Israeli newspaper reported.
Fortuna Düsseldorf at first defended Weissman. Replying to a post on X that featured a quote from Weismann, taken from Wikipedia, the soccer team said on Monday that “judging people you don’t know” based on a Wikipedia article “doesn’t really fit our vibe.” Less than 24 hours later, however, the team announced that it would not pursue a deal with Weissman.
The Israeli striker responded to the news in a statement shared on Instagram. He said a person will always stand with their country “no matter what” and that “loyalty isn’t up for debate,” especially “when your people are still burying their dead.”
“I am a son of a nation still grieving from the horrors of October 7,” he wrote. “That black day, when entire families were murdered, kidnapped, and brutalized, remains an open wound for me … It’s both possible and necessary to oppose harm to innocent people on both sides but I won’t allow myself to be painted as someone who promoted hate. If that’s hard for some to accept they should take another look at what happened on October 7th.”
He said in conclusion: “I am deeply grateful for the support I’ve received from people that actually know me, and I will continue to proudly carry the Israeli flag wherever I play.”
Weissman joined Granada in 2023 and his contract with the team expires in late June 2026. He began his career playing for Maccabi Haifa and has also played for Austria’s Wolfsberger AC and Spain’s Real Valladolid.
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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.