Israeli pro rebukes stanislaw for "Save Gaza" comments at the Major: "Politics don't belong in esports"

Wildcard's in-game leader Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz has been called out by Israeli pro Shiran "shushan" Shushan, who happens to be Shahar "flameZ" Shushan's older brother, for saying "Save Gaza" at the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, in light of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

stanislaw has posted the hashtag #SaveGaza numerous times on X, and even said the words in an interview with Dust2.us at the Major. Today, he took a step beyond and said "Save Gaza" during an interview for the BLAST.tv Austin Major official broadcast.

This last comment prompted shushan to complain about stanislaw on X, and ask if BLAST will be okay if Israeli pros say "free the hostages" or wear the hostages' pin on the official broadcast.

stanislaw explains himself to shushan: "All I wanted to do was advocate for peace and basic human rights"

Less than an hour after shushan posted his opinion, stanislaw took his time to address the criticism and apologize if his stance offended the Israeli pro.

"I’m sorry to have offended you," stan wrote. "I don’t see the issue with calling for the release of innocent hostages as you’re suggesting; all I wanted to do was advocate for peace and basic human rights. The world seems like it’s falling apart so I hope that there will be peace soon."

However, shushan looks far from happy with stanislaw's arguments and has replied to numerous people, and even called stanislaw an idiot.

"I never brought up politics in a tournament, as politics don't belong in esports," shushan wrote in one of his comments. "An Israeli player calling 'Free the hostages' would instantly get in trouble, yet this idiot brings up politics suddenly just for the Major.

Does the Major rulebook mention anything about politics?

After reading the BLAST.tv Austin Major rulebook, there are no rules that prohibit players from making political comments.

The only section of the rulebook that mentions politics, is the one below:

7.18 - Sticker Placement: Players may not use items which have in-game stickers which are vulgar in nature, political, or promote companies/sponsors/partners/services, or which violate the spirit of the game.

This whole controversy could gain other chapters soon as Israeli players such as shushan's younger brother flameZ and fellow Israelis Lotan "Spinx" Giladi and Nikita "HeavyGod" Martynenko will join the tournament in Stage 3.

We'll see if BLAST will make adjustments to defuse this situation before, though, as Stage Two kicks off tomorrow, and Stage Three only begins on June 12th.