Lineker, who hosts BBC’s Match of the Day, said he would not be silent over the atrocities committed in Gaza [Getty]
Prominent British sports presenter and former England star Gary Lineker revealed that he cries regularly when he sees videos and photographs of children being killed in Gaza.
Speaking with journalist Mehdi Hasan on Friday, Lineker, host of BBC’s Match of the Day, stated he would not remain silent about the atrocities committed in Gaza, adding that he had never witnessed anything more horrific in his life.
Lineker said he understood why many may be afraid to speak out about Gaza but he could not remain silent about what was happening and that what he sees on a daily basis is horrific.
“Actually, this issue does not concern me directly. I am not a Muslim. I am not Jewish. I am not Israeli. I am not Palestinian. So, I see, I think purely from the outside as from a neutral perspective and I cannot think of anything that I have seen worse in my lifetime. The constant images of children losing their lives day in, day out,” he said. “When I see some images on social media, I cry all the time.”
“We all know that the Hamas incident happened on Oct. 7th. But right now, as soon as you raise your voice against what they (Israel) are doing there, you are accused of being a Hamas supporter or something like that. There is a lot of lobbying to keep people silent,” he added.
Lineker responded to accusations of antisemitism, saying that Israel has an agenda to justify its war on Gaza, including, most recently, its decision to launch a ground offensive against Rafah.
“I do not think it is antisemitic to say that what Israel is doing is wrong. I do not understand how everyone does not see it that way at the moment. Whatever the reason, whatever started it, we all know that the history of this part of the world goes back much further than Oct. 7,” said Lineker.
Israel’s current war on Gaza has killed over 35,000 people – over 70 percent of whom have been women and children – and left much of the Palestinian territory uninhabitable.
