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Chinese TV network refuses to air Arsenal match after Özil defends Uyghur Muslims

The match between Arsenal and Manchester United, was pre-empted due to comments that the Turkish-origin German player made on Friday

News Service
12:23 - 16/12/2019 Monday
Update: 12:28 - 16/12/2019 Monday
Yeni Şafak
Mesut Özil
Mesut Özil

A state-run Chinese network on Sunday canceled a live broadcast of a Premier League soccer match after Arsenal star Mesut Özil blasted the Beijing government’s persecution of the Muslim Uyghur minority.

The match between Arsenal and Manchester United, was pre-empted due to comments that the Turkish-origin German player made Friday on Twitter that lamented the lack of action and unity among Muslims to stand up to China’s abuse of the Uyghurs, according to a report by The Global Times.

Instead, China Central Television opted to air a match between Tottenham Hotspur and the Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Özil’s tweet asking “where are Muslims?”, which contained a Muslim Friday greeting and moving words written over a backdrop of the Uyghur flag, lamented the lack of unity among the Muslim Ummah towards the plight of Uyghurs who face persecution and torture at the hands of the Beijing government.

Chinese state media, on the other hand, described Özil’s comments as “false”, noting the soccer star had “disappointed” Chinese soccer fans.”

The player wondered why Western media seemed more concerned with what was going on in East Turkestan than publications and channels across the Muslim world that opted to remain silent.

Özil quoted the words of Imam Ali, saying that if one can’t stop injustice, then at least one must spread the word about it.

The star also called for more unity among Muslims and to stand up to China’s assimilation policy and so-called “reeducation camps” for Uyghurs.

British soccer club Arsenal issued a statement Saturday distancing itself from Özil’s statement on social media criticizing China’s systematic abuse of the country’s Uyghur Muslim minority.

The club released a statement on Weibo, a widely popular Chinese social media site, as well as other platforms in which it distanced itself from Özil’s views.

“Regarding the comments made by Mesut Özil on social media, Arsenal must make a clear statement,” it read. “The content published is Özil’s personal opinion. As a football club, Arsenal has always adhered to the principle of not involving itself in politics.”

Many refer to China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region -- home to many ethnic minorities, including the Turkic Uyghur people -- as East Turkestan.

Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group that make up 45 percent of the population of Xinjiang, accuse China of carrying out repressive policies that restrain their religious, commercial and cultural activities.

As many as 1 million people, or about 7 percent of Xinjiang’s Muslim population, have been incarcerated in a sprawling network of "political re-education" camps, according to U.S. and UN studies. Beijing says that its camps in Xinjiang are "vocational training centers.”

Last September, the New York-based Human Rights Watch released a report accusing Beijing of a "systematic campaign of human rights violations" against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

#Uyghur
#Muslims
#China
#Özil
#Arsenal
#Persecution
4 years ago