American filmmaker Spike Lee denied that his wearing a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag during the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles was meant as a slight against Deni Avdija, who made history as the first Israeli player to be selected to the prestigious event.
In a post on Instagram after coming under fire for his actions, Lee said he was unaware that Avdija is an Israeli and claimed that his attire was meant to show his “concern for Palestinian children and civilians."
“Much respect to Deni Avdija, the first Israeli-born player in the NBA All-Star Game. Congratulations also to all the players and the NBA," wrote Lee.
He continued, “There has been some conjecture about what I wore to the games on Saturday and Sunday. The clothes I wore are symbols of my concern for the Palestinian children and civilians, and my utmost belief in human dignity for all humankind. What I wore was not intended as a gesture of hostility to Jewish people or to support violence against anyone, nor was it intended as a comment on the significance of Deni being an all-star."
“There were 28 NBA players chosen to be in this weekend. I didn’t know them all and Deni playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, a West Coast team, I didn’t lnow Deni as the first Israeli born NBA All-Star. He can BALL. NOW I DO KNOW," continued Lee.
He concluded the post by writing, “LIVE AND LEARN. ONWARD AND UPWARD. PEACE AND LOVE."
Lee, a well-known New York Knicks fan who is often seen at their games both at Madison Square Garden as well as road arenas, was blasted after he appeared courtside during All-Star weekend at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, wearing a bag adorned with the PLO flag.
Among the critics was WFAN radio host Craig Carton, who lashed out at filmmaker Lee, accused him of crossing a line and calling for him to be banned from all NBA arenas.
“Spike Lee should be banned from every basketball game for the rest of his life," Carton said in a clip shared on social media. “The fact that Spike Lee would protest the fact that an Israeli-born player made it to the All-Star game... The player’s not political, the player’s just playing basketball. There’s no place for this."
Carton slammed the NBA for allowing the display, which many critics view as a deliberate attempt to overshadow Avdija’s milestone achievement.
“But for the NBA to open up their doors and front-row service to a despicable human being and allow him to make this Israeli-born player feel bad, he shouldn’t be allowed in Madison Square Garden," Carton stressed. “He shouldn’t be allowed in another NBA arena for a long time."
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James came under fire for expressing a desire to visit Israel in the future during his media scrum at the All-Star Game.
Speaking before Sunday’s game, James was asked by an Israeli reporter about Avdija, to which he responded, “I said I believe he was an All-Star. He’s playing exceptional basketball. So that’s that."
His praise for Avdija then shifted to Israel when James said, “If I have fans over there - I’ve never been there - I hope you’ve been following my career. I hope I inspire people over there to not only want to be great at sports but be better in general in life. Hopefully someday I could make it over there. Like I said, I’ve never been over there, but I heard nothing but great things."
The comments were quickly met with criticism on social media. British-American commentator Mehdi Hasan expressed his disapproval on Twitter, writing, “What a disgrace LeBron is," while reposting a message from Al Jazeera journalist Laila Al-Arian who wrote, “The entire human rights community: Israel is an apartheid state committing genocide and ethnic cleansing. LeBron James: ‘I’ve heard great things about Israel.’"
Other social media users accused James of disregarding “Palestinian Arab suffering" and suggested that his praise for Israel was inappropriate, given the ongoing conflict in the region.
James has yet to respond to the criticism.