Daily Mail

Lineker’s tweet sparks new row over Palestinia­n clashes

- By Jim Norton

GARY Lineker has provoked controvers­y after branding footage showing Palestinia­n children being arrested by Israeli soldiers and locked in a cage as ‘sickening’.

The BBC pundit, who retweeted the video on Monday, was rounded on by Israel supporters who condemned him for sharing it without context.

But he was praised in equal measure for ‘speaking up on child abuse’

The 57-year-old later insisted that he was not ‘ picking sides’ but simply disagreed with the detention of children, calling for them to be given ‘basic human rights’.

It comes just two years after he was embroiled in a Twitter row when he posted a video showing Israeli soldiers shooting at a Palestinia­n who had been throwing stones. In the latest video, 18 youths were arrested after throwing stones at soldiers.

The footage, released as part of a video report by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem and recorded in October, shows them being shouted at and dragged around before being locked in a small cage. They were then allegedly blindfolde­d during interrogat­ions and prevented from seeing either their lawyers or parents until they were released that night. The video was originally tweeted by pro-Palestinia­n activist Ben White before Lineker retweeted it, adding his own thoughts with the caption ’sickening’. He quickly found himself at the centre of a furious debate. Peter Lerner, spokesman for the Israel Defense Force, said the pundit’s tweet ‘ completely missed the point’. stones They need He they said: to are be ‘When a stopped. public kids menace. throw it ‘Yes, convenient­ly the video is shares unpleasant only but a glimpse of what happened, the aftermath of their actions. You should be wiser than this.’ Lineker countered: ‘They should be stuffed into a small cage? You should be wiser.’ Arsen Ostrovsky, an Israel-based lawyer and political analyst, said it was ‘sickening’ that Lineker should retweet subject matter from Ben White, a journalist he accused of being an ‘extremist and bigot’. He also condemned him for making no comment on a rocket attack that hit an Israeli kindergart­en at the weekend.

Michael Dickson, of the Israeli advocacy organisati­on Stand With Us, said Lineker was ‘smearing servicemen and women who fight daily against terror’ by adding no context to his post.

Among those supporting Lineker was film director Ken Loach, who tweeted: ‘Well said Gary – every responsibl­e person should share your response.’

Journalist Liam O’Hare said: ‘It’s an odd world we live in when someone is hounded for speaking up against child abuse.’

 ??  ?? Caged: The Palestinia­n youths were locked up before being interrogat­ed and later released
Caged: The Palestinia­n youths were locked up before being interrogat­ed and later released

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom