Shahid Afridi and Pro-Israel group go head to head on X after selfie ‘endorsing’ Israel goes viral

Shahid Afridi has denied claims that he endorses the Zionist movement, shortly after Friends of Israel (FOI) — a grassroots organisation that advocates for Israel — posted a picture with the superstar cricketer, alleging he “stopped to offer his support for our call to release the hostages”.

In a picture posted on Wednesday, Afridi is seen standing with two men in Manchester, one of whom was holding a flyer about Israeli babies allegedly kidnapped by Hamas. The flyer clearly bears the words #BringThemHome, which is a call for the release of the hostages taken on by Hamas on October 7.

According to the organisation, Afridi was pictured with the co-chair and deputy chair of FOI. They also thanked him for his support.

Afridi responded to the backlash in disbelief, urging people to not believe everything that was uploaded to the internet.

“Imagine strolling down a street in Manchester (UK) and so-called fans approach you for a selfie. You oblige, and moments later, they upload it as some form of Zionist endorsement,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

“Seeing innocent lives in Palestine suffer is truly heartbreaking. Thus, any photo or association shared by in Manchester does not reflect my support for any situation where human lives are at stake.”

Afridi said he takes pictures with fans from all over the globe and this situation was no different. The cricketer also prayed for peace, freedom and an “end to this war”.

Author Fatima Bhutto called for Afridi to comment on the matter and after his explanation stated, “He commented and said he had no idea who they were. I guess they [the FOI] were keen to look like there were more than five people at their event”.

However, FOI responded to Afridi’s statement and alleged that he took a picture with his own camera with their hostage placards and agreed to pose with the group for a selfie with their leaflets.

“You spoke to us of your own free will and posed for a selfie with hostage leaflets to support our cause. It’s hugely disappointing you have caved into those who would oppose the release of innocent babies, children, women and men held hostage by the terrorists of Hamas,” the organisation wrote.

To this, the cricketer swiftly shot back that he believed the selfie was with a fan and that he did not endorse the FOI’s tweet.

“As a Muslim, I pray for peace across the world,” he said, asking them to delete the tweet because it was inaccurate.

As the back and forth continued, the FOI questioned if Afridi did not want the hostages released.

“You asked for a picture with your own phone of us with the placards in the background and then posed for a selfie with our hostage leaflets calling for the release of all the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. OWN your actions!!”

In another tweet, they continued to claim that Afridi approached them and agreed to take a selfie with them with hostage leaflets in front of his face.

The cricketer has not responded to FOI’s latest tweets.

Since the war began after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack, Israeli forces have killed at least 37,266 people in Gaza, mostly civilians. Earlier this month, Israeli forces rescued four hostages held by Hamas since October in a raid in Gaza that killed more than 200 Palestinians, one of the single bloodiest Israeli assaults, Reuters reported.