Hamas terrorists attacked Israel starting last week, murdering and kidnapping hundreds of innocent civilians. The images and videos shared on social media are horrific. These evil acts, at the hands of a group whose goal is to wipe Israel and its people off the map, should be condemned by everyone.
While professional sports leagues and teams have been active in their political activism, promoting Black Lives Matter, denouncing the overturn of Roe v. Wade, condemning the January 6 protests, and involving themselves in many more political issues of our time, only one team made a public comment about the Hamas terror attacks the day of the terrorist attacks: the Miami Heat.
Notably, the owner of the Heat is Micky Arison, an Israeli-American billionaire businessman and chairman of Carnival, the world's largest cruise operator. One would assume that he was the person who either encouraged or tasked the franchise with making a statement that no other professional sports league or team would.
The responses have been, as you would imagine, all over the spectrum: from support and gratitude, to condemnation and support for Palestine.
Notably, Washington Wizards forward and NBA champion Kyle Kuzma also offered support for Israel in a tweet Saturday.
Eventually, multiple professional teams and leagues followed the Heatβs lead by condemning the attacks and standing with Israel. Notice the time stamps on the tweets. Not one listed was posted on the day of the attacks.
The non-exhaustive list includes the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers, the New England Patriots, the MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the NBA, and Major League Pickleball, among others.
Interestingly, the New York Yankees, whose city is home to the largest population of Jews outside of Israel, did not make a post. Rather, they just retweeted the main MLB account. The Boston Red Sox, the longtime rival of the Yankees, also opted to simply retweet the post from the main MLB account.
We live in a day and age where political activism from teams and leagues is not surprising, but what is surprising is a statement not in line with something that falls more on the leftward side of the political spectrum. To see a team unafraid to condemn a senseless terror attack and stand with Israel, a critical American ally, should not be controversial, but that is the world in which we live.
