Mohamed Salah finally comes out of silence to “call for an end to the massacres” in Palestine

Across the Arab world, as the days passed, there were many admirers of Mohammed Salah who, furious or disillusioned, despaired of seeing him stand out with a great show of solidarity towards the Palestinians, in light of his virtuosity on the pitch. of football.

After waiting feverishly for the “Egyptian king” of Liverpool FC to come out of the long silence in which he seemed to have retreated, the Egyptian football star has finally freed himself from the gag which was muzzling his speech.

It remains to be seen what led Mohamed Salah to break the leaden blanket of silence. Is it the avalanche of disappointed, disconcerted or furious reactions which shook the pedestal on which his millions of Arab supporters have hoisted him, or the unbearable atrocities inflicted for more than ten days by Israel on the martyred people of Gaza? Probably both at the same time…

Still, the star striker of the Reds, elevated to the rank of icon embodying the “Pride of the Arabs”, ended up expressing himself on YouTube, Wednesday October 18, in a video which, having happily exceeded 50 million of views in just one hour, has not yet thrilled the hearts of his countless fans. And that’s an understatement…

Indeed, in addition to his delay in starting, Mohamed Salah suffered a new round of criticism. Many have sharply criticized him for a speech that is far too nuanced, insipid, even without emotion and without soul, while others, among the most sarcastic, have gone so far as to ironize about the tone of his voice which makes them think that his video is more the fruit of Artificial Intelligence than of a deep-rooted pro-Palestinian commitment.

So, are Mohamed Salah’s fervent Arab supporters a little too harsh? It’s up to everyone to judge on the evidence.

The translation of his speech appears below

“It’s not always easy to speak at times like this. There was too much violence and brutality. In the preceding days, we witnessed extreme violence that made our hearts bleed. The escalation of violence which has lasted for weeks cannot be tolerated. All lives are sacred and must be protected. The massacres must stop. Families are torn apart. Humanitarian support to Gaza must be authorized immediately. The population of Gaza lives in miserable conditions. We saw horrible scenes at the hospital on Tuesday. The people of Gaza are in immediate need of food, water and medicine. I call on all world leaders to unite to prevent further massacres of innocent people “.