WWE's Sami Zayn is embroiled in Israel-Gaza controversy, avoids sanctions

WWE superstar Sami Zayn has been the subject of considerable controversy after he both liked a series of anti-Israel posts on social media and apparent allusions to the Gazan "resistance" against Israel on WWE TV. However, despite the outrage of many fans, WWE has yet to take any action against him.

A longtime fan-favorite among the WWE roster and a former darling of the independent wrestling scene, Zayn, real name Rami Sebai, has rarely been shy about is political activism in the past.

Among the many social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war that Zayn liked is an op-ed by US journalist Chris Hedges, titled "Israel's final solution for the Palestinians," where Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government are both compared to Nazis.

In addition, Zayn has also seemingly made allusions to the war on WWE programming itself. In an October 30 segment on Monday Night RAW, Zayn, in character, comes out to interrupt a promo (wrestling parlance for an in-character monologue or statement) delivered by wrestler Rhea Ripley of the stable Judgment Day.

Zayn, who is currently considered a face (wrestling parlance for a heroic character or good guy), starts off by describing the Judgment Day as being ruthless in the name of power, before then making references to oppression and ruling with an iron fist.

Sami Zayn is a Canadian-born WWE wrestler who’s also Muslim and of Syrian descent.On Monday Night Raw, Sami delivered a promo which many believe is him indirectly talking about the situation in Gaza.What do you think? pic.twitter.com/3rJsUHXtA0

— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) November 1, 2023

"You can be as ruthless as you want, as cutthroat as you want, you can rule with an iron fist, who can oppress whoever, whenever, as long as it's in the name of power," Zayn said, continuing that "If that's your game, my name is not Sami Zayn, my name is rebellion, my name is resistance."

At the end of his speech, Ripley responded with her own promo, seemingly without any issue.

Many WWE fans took his promo to be a reference to the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza.

Unlike most segments that air on WWE programming, this entire segment was removed from WWE's YouTube channel and social media platforms.

In addition, after an article in Israel Hayom about his liked posts, Zayn seemingly cleared off many of his likes on social media, removing all likes on posts related to the Israel-Hamas war.

However, at the time of writing, Zayn has also been written off WWE TV, after suffering a storyline injury (meaning not a real injury but part of the overarching plot of wrestling) on the December 4 episode of RAW.

But this storyline injury coincides with Zayn requesting time off from management, which was granted, as reported by wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This break is odd, considering how over (wrestling parlance for popularity with the fans) Zayn has become over the past year.

Israelis, pro-Israel groups protest to WWE about Sami Zayn's views

Many wrestling fans reportedly sent many angry complaints to WWE and the group that owns it, the TKO group, due to Zayn's social media activity.

The TKO group was formed following the merger of WWE and UFC parent company Zuffa, and contains numerous Jews on its board of directors, including CEO Ari Emanuel, Nancy Tellem, and Jonathan Kraft.

Since the October 7th massacre committed by Hamas, Sami Zayn, a popular @WWE wrestler has been promoting pro-Hamas and antisemitic content to his followers.We demand TKO & WWE to come out against his views and stand up to antisemitism.CLICK to e-mail: https://t.co/q9CD4Bx6G6 pic.twitter.com/j2CExDMP60

— Act-IL (@Act_On_) December 5, 2023

One such group sending these angry messages is Act-IL, an advocacy group based at Reichmann University in Herzliya.

"Since the October 7th massacre committed by Hamas, Sami Zayn, a popular @WWE wrestler has been promoting pro-Hamas and antisemitic content to his followers," Act-IL wrote. "We demand TKO & WWE to come out against his views and stand up to antisemitism."

This also comes following numerous controversial and allegedly antisemitic statements made by UFC fighters in the wake of the October 7 massacre.

Sami Zayn's history of anti-Israel activity on social media

Zayn has a long history of political activism, being very vocal in his views about the Syrian civil war as well as his longstanding pro-Palestinian views.

Most recently, Zayn was among many artists and celebrities who signed a joint call to US President Joe Biden for a ceasefire in Gaza, as can be seen on the website https://www.artists4ceasefire.org/.

In the past, Zayn was especially active in making pro-Palestinian posts on social media in 2021, during Operation Guardian of the Walls and during the series of tensions surrounding the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem.

Despite this, WWE has reportedly taken no action against Zayn, either now or back in 2021, though both times he had to scrub his social media clean.

The Jerusalem Post has reached out to WWE and the TKO Group for comment.