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Pro Wrestler Competing in WrestleMania 40 Promotes False Anti-Israel, Anti-Zionist Narratives Online

Sami Zayn. Photo: BANG Showbiz via Reuters Connect

Canadian professional wrestler Rami Sebei, one of the biggest stars in the WWE who performs under the ring name Sami Zayn, has regularly been “liking” antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-Zionist posts on social media while following accounts that promote false narratives about the Jewish state, The Algemeiner has learned.

The pro-Palestinian athlete, who is of Syrian descent, will challenge fellow wrestler Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XL on Saturday. Ahead of his appearance in the professional wrestling event, The Algemeiner discovered that Zayn follows an account on X/Twitter that shares daily antisemitic and anti-Zionist content, including comparisons between Zionists and Nazis and false accusations about Israel. The account is run by an “Anti Zionist Hebrew,” according to its bio.

Throughout several posts this week, Israel has been described as a terrorist country and liberal Zionism equated with the murdering of Palestinians. On Monday, the account shared a video of soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) kicking around a ball and wrote in the caption, “Israeli soldiers have some genocide fun time in Gaza playing with a football, most likely looted from displaced/murdered Palestinians.” On Tuesday, the account re-posted a message that said Israel is “like a mafia, launching hits on Palestinians like organized criminals.”

On March 15, another post on the X account said: “Am Yisrael Chai [a Jewish slogan that means ‘the people of Israel live’] will never again be a legitimate phrase, it has become merely an expression of genocidal ideology. Zionists have turned it into their own ‘Seig Hei,’” which is a reference to the Nazi salute.

Photo: Screenshot

On March 11, the account shared messages about Zionists having “a lust for blood and destruction.” The account was recently flagged by X as harmful but has not been shut down.

Zayn also liked a video on X that showed comedian and actor Rami Youssef saying on March 30 during his opening monologue on Saturday Night Live: “God, please stop the suffering. Stop the violence. Please free the people of Palestine, please.”

On Instagram, Zayn has “liked” several posts from an account that regularly accuses “Israeli occupation forces” of genocide, and of executing, murdering, and deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, Zayn “liked” a post on the Instagram account that referred to the six months that have passed since the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel, during which hundreds of civilians were killed and hundreds more were taken by Hamas as hostages back to Gaza. However, rather than reference the Hamas attacks in Israel that sparked the current war, the post instead focused on Gaza and said, “6 months; 180 Day of GENOCIDE #SaveGaza.”

On Monday, Zayn “liked” a post on the same Instagram account that claimed Israel has “destroyed most of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip,” without mentioning that Hamas uses Gaza’s hospitals for its terrorist operations.

On Sunday, the wrestler “liked” a post that stated a false accusation about how “Israeli occupation forces murdered” civilians “in cold blood” and also “destroyed a [sic] residential blocks in the vicinity of Shifa hospital and executed hundreds of Palestinians civilians.” The Israeli military said on Monday that over the last two weeks it had killed more than 200 gunmen at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital — which according to the US and Israel was used by terrorists to run military operations and even hold hostages seized by Hamas — and captured about 900 suspects, of whom more than 500 were confirmed to be terrorist operatives.

Photo: Instagram screenshot

Photo: Screenshot

Zayn has an extensive history of expressing anti-Israel sentiments on social media. Last year, he shared on X an article titled “Israel’s Final Solution for the Palestinians.” The article compared Israel to Nazis for launching a military campaign in the Gaza Strip targeting Hamas terrorists. The article also claimed that Israel killed some of its own citizens during the terrorist strike on Oct. 7 and concluded by saying that “Israelis who cheer on the Palestinian nightmare will soon endure a nightmare of their own.”

Zayn joined many celebrities in signing an open letter addressed to US President Joe Biden that called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

After many supporters of Israel contacted the WWE and its parent company, TKO, about Zayn’s social media activity, he deleted his antisemitic posts without releasing a public statement or apology. He was also not sanctioned by the WWE.

In one now-deleted post from 2021, the wrestler talked about “Israeli military aggression” being wrapped “in a cloak of victimhood” by politicians and commentators who he claimed were “omitting [Israel’s] crimes towards the Palestinians.”

Also in 2021, in response to a post on X by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang expressing his solidarity with Israel and condemning Hamas terrorists, Zayn said, in a now-deleted tweet: “There is no viable moral defense for stealing people’s homes based on their ethnicity. Maybe not the most tasteful statement to make within hours of Israel bombing Gaza and killing 20 Palestinians, 9 of whom were children. But then again I’m not a soulless piece of s**t politician so what do I know?” Pro-Israel groups reportedly contacted the WWE following Zayn’s offensive tweets in 2021.

TKO has a Jewish majority on its board of directors — including Jonathan Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft — and the WWE has a global partnership with Mattel, which is led by Israeli Chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz.

Neither TKO nor the WWE responded to The Algemeiner‘s request for comment about Zayn’s recent social media activity. The WWE also ignored a request to speak with Zayn directly.

WrestleMania 40 will take place on April 6-7 at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The post Pro Wrestler Competing in WrestleMania 40 Promotes False Anti-Israel, Anti-Zionist Narratives Online first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Syria’s Sharaa Says Talks With Israel Could Yield Results ‘In Coming Days’

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks at the opening ceremony of the 62nd Damascus International Fair, the first edition held since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in Damascus, Syria, Aug. 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results “in the coming days.”

He told reporters in Damascus the security pact was a “necessity” and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations.

Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.

Reuters reported this week that Washington was pressuring Syria to reach a deal before world leaders gather next week for the UN General Assembly in New York.

But Sharaa, in a briefing with journalists including Reuters ahead of his expected trip to New York to attend the meeting, denied the US was putting any pressure on Syria and said instead that it was playing a mediating role.

He said Israel had carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions since Dec. 8, when the rebel offensive he led toppled former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Sharaa said Israel’s actions were contradicting the stated American policy of a stable and unified Syria, which he said was “very dangerous.”

He said Damascus was seeking a deal similar to a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a demilitarized zone between the two countries.

He said Syria sought the withdrawal of Israeli troops but that Israel wanted to remain at strategic locations it seized after Dec. 8, including Mount Hermon. Israeli ministers have publicly said Israel intends to keep control of the sites.

He said if the security pact succeeds, other agreements could be reached. He did not provide details, but said a peace agreement or normalization deal like the US-mediated Abraham Accords, under which several Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel, was not currently on the table.

He also said it was too early to discuss the fate of the Golan Heights because it was “a big deal.”

Reuters reported this week that Israel had ruled out handing back the zone, which Donald Trump unilaterally recognized as Israeli during his first term as US president.

“It’s a difficult case – you have negotiations between a Damascene and a Jew,” Sharaa told reporters, smiling.

SECURITY PACT DERAILED IN JULY

Sharaa also said Syria and Israel had been just “four to five days” away from reaching the basis of a security pact in July, but that developments in the southern province of Sweida had derailed those discussions.

Syrian troops were deployed to Sweida in July to quell fighting between Druze armed factions and Bedouin fighters. But the violence worsened, with Syrian forces accused of execution-style killings and Israel striking southern Syria, the defense ministry in Damascus and near the presidential palace.

Sharaa on Wednesday described the strikes near the presidential palace as “not a message, but a declaration of war,” and said Syria had still refrained from responding militarily to preserve the negotiations.

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Anti-Israel Activists Gear Up to ‘Flood’ UN General Assembly

US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Anti-Israel groups are planning a wave of raucous protests in New York City during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) over the next several days, prompting concerns that the demonstrations could descend into antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation.

A coalition of anti-Israel activists is organizing the protests in and around UN headquarters to coincide with speeches from Middle Eastern leaders and appearances by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The demonstrations are expected to draw large crowds and feature prominent pro-Palestinian voices, some of whom have been criticized for trafficking in antisemitic tropes, in addition to calling for the destruction of Israe.

Organizers of the demonstrations have promoted the coordinated events on social media as an opportunity to pressure world leaders to hold Israel accountable for its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, with some messaging framed in sharply hostile terms.

On Sunday, for example, activists shouted at Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.

“Zionism is terrorism. All you guys are terrorists committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza and Palestine. Shame on you, Zionist animals,” they shouted.

The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), warned on its website that the scale and tone of the planned demonstrations risk crossing the line from political protest into hate speech, arguing that anti-Israel activists are attempting to hijack the UN gathering to spread antisemitism and delegitimize the Jewish state’s right to exist.

Outside the UN last week, masked protesters belonging to the activist group INDECLINE kicked a realistic replica of Netanyahu’s decapitated head as though it were a soccer ball.

Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a radical anti-Israel activist group, has vowed to “flood” the UNGA on behalf of the pro-Palestine movement.

WOL, one of the most prolific anti-Israel activist groups, came under immense fire after it organized a protest against an exhibition to honor the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. During the event, the group chanted “resistance is justified when people are occupied!” and “Israel, go to hell!”

“We will be there to confront them with the truth: Their silence and inaction enable genocide. The world cannot continue as if Gaza does not exist,” WOL said of its planned demonstrations in New York. “This is the time to make our voices impossible to ignore. Come to New York by any means necessary, to stand, to march, to demand the UN act and end the siege.”

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), two other anti-Israel organizations that have helped organize widespread demonstrations against the Jewish state during the war in Gaza, also announced they are planning a march from Times Square to the UN headquarters on Friday.

“The time is now for each and every UN member state to uphold their duty under international law: sanction Israel and end the genocide,” the groups said in a statement.

JVP, an organization that purports to fight for “Palestinian liberation,” has positioned itself as a staunch adversary of the Jewish state. The group argued in a 2021 booklet that Jews should not write Hebrew liturgy because hearing the language would be “deeply traumatizing” to Palestinians. JVP has repeatedly defended the Oct. 7 massacre of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas as a justified “resistance.” Chapters of the organization have urged other self-described “progressives” to throw their support behind Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel

Similarly, PYM, another radical anti-Israel group, has repeatedly defended terrorism and violence against the Jewish state. PYM has organized many anti-Israel protests in the two years following the Oct. 7 attacks in the Jewish state. Recently, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) called for a federal investigation into the organization after Aisha Nizar, one of the group’s leaders, urged supporters to sabotage the US supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet, one of the most advanced US military assets and a critical component of Israel’s defense.

The UN General Assembly has historically been a flashpoint for heated debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previous gatherings have seen dueling demonstrations outside the Manhattan venue, with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups both seeking to influence the international spotlight.

While warning about the demonstrations, CAM noted it recently launched a new mobile app, Report It, that allows users worldwide to quickly and securely report antisemitic incidents in real time.

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Nina Davidson Presses Universities to Back Words With Action as Jewish Students Return to Campus Amid Antisemitism Crisis

Nina Davidson on The Algemeiner’s ‘J100’ podcast. Photo: Screenshot

Philanthropist Nina Davidson, who served on the board of Barnard College, has called on universities to pair tough rhetoric on combatting antisemitism with enforcement as Jewish students returned to campuses for the new academic year.

“Years ago, The Algemeiner had published a list ranking the most antisemitic colleges in the country. And number one was Columbia,” Davidson recalled on a recent episode of The Algemeiner‘s “J100” podcast. “As a board member and as someone who was representing the institution, it really upset me … At the board meeting, I brought it up and I said, ‘What are we going to do about this?’”

Host David Cohen, chief executive officer of The Algemeiner, explained he had revisited Davidson’s remarks while she was being honored for her work at The Algemeiner‘s 8th annual J100 gala, held in October 2021, noting their continued relevance.

“It could have been the same speech in 2025,” he said, underscoring how longstanding concerns about campus antisemitism, while having intensified in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, are not new.

Davidson argued that universities already possess the tools to protect students – codes of conduct, time-place-manner rules, and consequences for threats or targeted harassment – but too often fail to apply them evenly. “Statements are not enough,” she said, arguing that institutions need to enforce their rules and set a precedent that there will be consequences for individuals who refuse to follow them.

She also said that stakeholders – alumni, parents, and donors – are reassessing their relationships with schools that, in their view, have not safeguarded Jewish students. While supportive of open debate, Davidson distinguished between protest and intimidation, calling for leadership that protects expression while ensuring campus safety.

The episode surveyed specific pressure points that administrators will face this fall: repeat anti-Israel encampments, disruptions of Jewish programming, and the challenge of distinguishing political speech from conduct that violates university rules. “Unless schools draw those lines now,” Davidson warned, “they’ll be scrambling once the next crisis hits.”

Cohen closed by framing the discussion as a test of institutional credibility, asking whether universities will “turn policy into protection” in real time. Davidson agreed, pointing to students who “need to know the rules aren’t just on paper.”

The full conversation is available on The Algemeiner’s “J100” podcast.

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