Israeli basketball player Deni Avdija, who plays the small forward position for the Washington Wizards celebrated his 20th birthday Sunday, but the momentous date was mired by a social media post gone awry.
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An Instagram account called "Overtimeedits" posted a composite of Avdija standing on a Star of David and holding his Maccabi Tel Aviv No. 8 shirt against the backdrop of the Dome of the Rock and a lightning-stricken White House. Its caption read, "Happy 20th birthday DENI."
The post sparked immediate controversy, with many users lambasting Israel.
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"Did you just place an Israeli uniform on the Dome of the Rock"? one user fumed. Another wrote, "First you stole lands from the Palestinians and now you're taking their holy sites? You're Nazis in sheep's clothing."
A third user noted, "You shouldn't put a Jewish [basketball] player near a Muslim holy place," while a fourth observed, "Anti-Semites are going to have a field day with this one."
Israeli Instagram users were baffled by the image with Avdija shared in a "story" – a strange move given its clearly anti-Israeli undertones.
"Why on earth did you just post a photo of you stepping in a Star of David, with a Maccabi shirt over al-Aqsa Mosque and a lighting striking the White House?!?" one Israeli fan castigated.
Others mocked the artistic level of the photo, saying it "looks like something made by a 12-year-old who just found a photo editing app." One user said he "appreciated the fact that they [whoever created the image] left out the camels in the background."
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