On Tuesday the 13th of August, the X account of French athlete Muhammad Abdallah Kounta was reactivated. Although most of his posts were deleted, one internet user wanted to set the record straight. The French-language X account SwordOfSalomon shared screenshots of pro-Hamas and anti-white tweets posted by the 29-year-old runner between 2020 and today.
Among the posts that the athlete deleted is a tweet from 2021: ‘O believers! Do not take the Jews and Christians as your allies, for they are allies of some among others. And whoever of you takes them as friends will become one of them. Indeed, Allah does not guide the unjust people. In the same year, he announced that he wanted to ‘kill the little white man’.
Although he took part in the 4x400m relay (men and mixed) at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in the blue, white and red colours, he does not appear to be a patriot. In September 2023, he wrote: ‘I’m too happy far away from SubFrance’.
In addition to these messages, the athlete had also re-shared numerous pro-Hamas posts, especially after the terror group’s attack on Israel. One user wrote: ‘May Allah create the worst and most terrible hell for the $!on!stes (Zionists) and their supporters (…) May they suffer forever’. This message was shared by Muhammad Abdallah Kounta. The athlete had also posted an illustration showing Israeli athletes carrying their flag and holding weapons. The picture was captioned: ‘Ban child murderers from the Olympics’.
These revelations were particularly shocking. Patrick Karam, the vice-president of the Île-de-France region responsible for sport, condemned on his X account ‘unacceptable statements’ that ‘deserve the most severe penalties’. He also stated that the French Athletics Federation (FFA) would ‘make a report to the public prosecutor for criminal prosecution’. When asked by Le Figaro, the FFA confirmed that it had ‘called in the relevant authorities to clarify all the facts’.
For his part, the accused apologised on his X account. He wrote: ‘I AM FRENCH, MUSLIMANIC AND PROUD’ and accused internet users of having ‘taken some of his comments out of context’. ‘I sincerely apologise if anyone felt offended. I am against genocide and any form of racism or injustice and I don’t think I need to prove how much I love my country,’ he added.