And his name is Dwight Howard.
In the midst of a crisis between Israel and Palestine, Dwight Howard has found himself in a comprising situation. Howard tweeted his support for Palestine by tweeting “#FreePalestine” Saturday afternoon. The tweet quickly garnered attention by thousands of fans voicing both support and anger.
Howard deleted the tweet less than an hour later, but not before upsetting many of his fans. One fan, @artorubin86 said, “@DwightHoward disgusting. Thought you were more educated than that. Glad you left the #lakers.”
Howard then sent out two more tweets, apologizing for his controversial tweet. @DwightHoward said, ”previous tweet was a mistake. I have never commented on international politics and never will.”
previous tweet was a mistake. I have never commented on international politics and never will.
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) July 12, 2014
@DwightHoward also said, ”I apologize if I offended anyone with my previous tweet, it was a mistake!”
I apologize if I offended anyone with my previous tweet, it was a mistake!
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) July 12, 2014
This drew ire from Palestinian supporters who then began to attack Howard for deleting the tweet. @stopbeingfamous said,
“Why tweet #FreePalestine if you’re ashamed/frightened to say it? Better off saying nothing. @DwightHoward.”
Others pointed out that his teammate Omri Casspi is Israeli, and his tweet could cause tension between the two. Although Casspi has yet to reply to Howard publicly, he has been active on Twitter in the past few days voicing his support for his home country.
Amare is yet to comment. But he did tweet this last week.
#TBT to my last trip to Israel. Looking forward to seeing everybody in Israel real soon! http://t.co/0eYbG1BxvB pic.twitter.com/hluUiptn7A
— Amar’e Stoudemire (@Amareisreal) July 10, 2014
Update: Looks like I may have spoken too soon about Amare.
Amare Stoudemire followed me just to threaten me via DM: cc @Happywalters @calcalist @odaskal @TMZ_Sports @nytimes pic.twitter.com/2u5lUJeTBA
— Becky Griffin (@dorothyofisrael) July 14, 2014
@checkmate9 Tweeted him about his "Pray for Palestine" pic, saying he should pray for both sides. Btw — he deleted the pic.
— Becky Griffin (@dorothyofisrael) July 14, 2014
