LONDON: Ex-England footballer and BBC sports presenter Gary Lineker has drawn support and criticism after retweeting a video showing Palestinian boys and teens being dragged away and caged by Israeli soldiers.
Lineker commented on his retweet just one word: “Sickening.”
The video was originally posted to Twitter by Ben White, an author, researcher and activist, who wrote on his tweet about the video: “Israeli soldiers in Hebron bravely defend themselves from a number of existential threats disguised as defenseless Palestinian children.”
Lineker’s retweet drew a mix of comments, with @LTCPeterLerner (Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, former spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces) telling Lineker: “Sorry, Gary, you’ve completely missed the point. When kids throw stones they are a public menace. They need to be stopped. Yes, the video is unpleasant but it conveniently shares only a glimpse of what happened, the aftermath of their actions. You should be wiser than this. #Fail”
Lineker fired back a short missive: “They should be stuffed into a small cage? You should be wiser. #fail“
Lerner replied: “No, they should be in school. Oh but their leadership closed the schools so they would go on a wild rampage in the streets. That is what is sickening. What would you do?”
Lineker then quickly retorted: “Treat them like humans. Bye.”
But that wasn’t the end — the exchange between celebrity and Twitterati continued as Lineker replied almost a dozen times, defending his video post for around three hours after it was first posted.
Lineker’s retweeted video via Ben White was of footage originally posted to YouTube by B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. The organization states that it tries “to educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public; and help to create a human rights culture in Israel.”
B’Tselem’s video has been watched just 2,743 times (at the time of going to press) on YouTube, where it is titled, “Hebron routine: minors arrested in city center after clashes with soldiers.”
The video features an explanation as to why Israeli soldiers were making arrests in Hebron, stating that Palestinian youths threw stones at them on Oct. 13, 2017, after which the Israeli army caged 18 “young men.”
The shorter Twitter version, which has been viewed more than 731,000 times, edits out this information.
Lineker’s retweet has been liked over 12,000 times and retweeted itself more than 9,000 times. Comments under Lineker’s retweet are party anti-Israel, partly pro-Israel, but many focus on the age of the boys being arrested by the Israeli army. One Twitter user, @tones1971, commented: “They weren’t just arrested. They were stuffed in cages. That’s child abuse.”
A request for comment via Lineker’s Twitter feed went unanswered.
BBC star Gary Lineker strongly defends tweet about Israeli army arrests
BBC star Gary Lineker strongly defends tweet about Israeli army arrests
Foreign press group welcomes Israel court deadline on Gaza access
- Supreme Court set deadline for responding to petition filed by the Foreign Press Association to Jan. 4
- Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the Strip
JERUSALEM: The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem on Sunday welcomed the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to set January 4 as the deadline for Israel to respond to its petition seeking media access to Gaza.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory.
Israel has instead allowed, on a case-by-case basis, a handful of reporters to accompany its troops into the blockaded Palestinian territory.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition to the supreme court last year, seeking immediate access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip.
On October 23, the court held a first hearing on the case, and decided to give Israeli authorities one month to develop a plan for granting access.
Since then the court has given several extensions to the Israeli authorities to come up with their plan, but on Saturday it set January 4 as a final deadline.
“If the respondents (Israeli authorities) do not inform us of their position by that date, a decision on the request for a conditional order will be made on the basis of the material in the case file,” the court said.
The FPA welcomed the court’s latest directive.
“After two years of the state’s delay tactics, we are pleased that the court’s patience has finally run out,” the association said in a statement.
“We renew our call for the state of Israel to immediately grant journalists free and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip.
“And should the government continue to obstruct press freedoms, we hope that the supreme court will recognize and uphold those freedoms,” it added.
An AFP journalist sits on the board of the FPA.
