Gary Lineker - foot in mouth again

He’s actually right. In terms of the extent of destruction in the timeframe it is worse than all of those conflicts and in terms of the concentration of civilian casualties it’s also worse. Iran-Iraq war was largely fought on the border of the countries and mainly involved soldiers, it was a war of attrition fought in trenches much like WWI. You might be right about Vietnam, 2.2 million dead civilians averages out to about 300 per day. Right now, at the rate he’s going, Netanyahu is killing on average about 160 Palestinians every day.

but these are all very different conflicts — war in Afghanistan went on for 20 years and killed 29,000 civilians (but a lot of that was Americans hopelessly trying fight a militia in the mountains). Again, Netanyahu has already topped that (I’m sure he’s so proud). But I think you’re missing Lineker’s point which is he hasn’t seen anything like this in his lifetime and he’s correct. What could he possibly remember as a child in the 1960s? But more importantly, the way we’ve been exposed to this war is unlike anything else — it’s been pretty much live-streamed to our personal devices. So when Israel sends a 2,000 pound US made bomb on a neighbourhood in Khan Younis, because it thinks 1/2 Hamas members live there, we will see the crushed and torn bodies of little babies or (for instance) the four year old girl who’s torso was ripped almost in half and left hanging from a broken concrete wall, within hours if not minutes of it happening. The images have been absolutely, without exception, the most horrifying because of their shear number and volume. And it’s interesting because Oct 7 was a horrifying, shocking 6 hours of hell but Israel has been seeking vengeance for it so far with 220 days of utter destruction, death and deliberate starvation. Israel’s response has been wildly disproportionate. There’s no justification for it. You can’t say that 34,000 Palestinians deserve to be killed or needed to be killed for the 1,200 people (chunk of them IDF btw) killed by Hamas and PIJ and the 230 hostages. That’s just a distinctly amoral form of racism, surely? I honestly haven’t lived through anything like this. Because as well as the bombs, it’s the fact that Israeli right wing nut jobs are destroying shipments of aid at border crossings and the aid deliveries are being deliberately stalled. Oh and the water! Not sure if many people know this but Gazans are not allowed to collect their own rain water and also chocolate imports have always been banned by Israel. And in general the aerial bombardment is also officially worse than Dresden. So yeah it is absolutely f8cking awful and he’s absolutely right.

This.

Most people seem to laugh at him or deride him.

It's starting to look more like a smear campaign by yourself of the man, because you don't agree with his political views on the current conflict 🤔
What has this or what you replied to, have anything to do with your original OP?

He’s not the brightest

Your last sentence is very revealing.

When I think of this anti-semitic misogynist I always remember the time he shat himself and wiped his arse on the pitch. Sum's him up in so many ways.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfvyi5

I have no idea why he’s allowed on the BBC, he’s supposed to be impartial
He is not speaking on behalf of the BBC here thought. I am no fan of Lineker's but suggesting he as an individual needs to be impartial is not accurate.

Yes, and Israel is complying with that order.
A quick google suggests the opposite tbh. Do you have evidence that outlines how they have?

Incidentally, the ICJ said that Hamas must immediately release all the hostages unconditionally.
No they haven't complied either but Israel is in a different position because they have signed up to the international humanitarian laws, Hamas has signed up to no international laws or treaties (doesn't make it right though)

You can't state that someone's opinion is false, however much you disagree with it.

I have no idea why he’s allowed on the BBC, he’s supposed to be impartial but he’s always talking shit. He’s got a sordid past himself so his holier than thou act is ridiculous.

Does he get away with it because he is a contractor rather than direct employee? Wasn't he taken off air before for speaking out about something?

I bet if Lineker was rabidly pro Israel and kept spouting off about it he would be quickly shut down.

Gary Lineker is paid by me (and every other licence payer) to be a football pundit not a political commentator.

He wasn't making the statement on match of the day. You paying him to be a football pundit doesn't mean you control his speech the entire time.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/02/israel-defying-icj-ruling-to-prevent-genocide-by-failing-to-allow-adequate-humanitarian-aid-to-reach-gaza/

Israel defying ICJ ruling to prevent genocide by failing to allow adequate humanitarian aid to reach GazaOne month after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip from the risk of genocide by ensuring sufficient humanitarian assistance and enabling basic services, Israel has failed to take even the bare minimum steps to comply, Amnesty International said today.

The order to provide aid was one of six provisional measures ordered by the Court on 26 January and Israel was given one month to report back on its compliance with the measures. Over that period Israel has continued to disregard its obligation as the occupying power to ensure the basic needs of Palestinians in Gaza are met.

Israeli authorities have failed to ensure sufficient life-saving goods and services are reaching a population at risk of genocide and on the brink of famine due to Israel’s relentless bombardment and the tightening of its 16-year-long illegal blockade. They have also failed to lift restrictions on the entry of life-saving goods, or open additional aid access points and crossings or put in place an effective system to protect humanitarians from attack.

“Not only has Israel created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, but it is also displaying a callous indifference to the fate of Gaza’s population by creating conditions which the ICJ has said places them at imminent risk of genocide. Time and time again, Israel has failed to take the bare minimum steps humanitarians have desperately pleaded for that are clearly within its power to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“As the occupying power, under international law, Israel has a clear obligation to ensure the basic needs of Gaza’s population are met. Israel has not only woefully failed to provide for Gazans’ basic needs, but it has also been blocking and impeding the passage of sufficient aid into the Gaza Strip, in particular to the north which is virtually inaccessible, in a clear show of contempt for the ICJ ruling and in flagrant violation of its obligation to prevent genocide.”

@onegrumpyoldwoman

"Gary Lineker is paid by me (and every other licence payer) to be a football pundit not a political commentator."

• His football punditry job is on the BBC, at set broadcast times, not 24/7 and not on Xtwitter or other social media
• He did not use his BBC time on Match of the Day to say this
• He did not say that this was a BBC opinion, it's clearly his own.

Wanting the BBC to only employ people that toe a particular party line does not sound very democratic to me.

The right wing press do love to froth about his opinions though.

OP it's an opinion, feel free to disagree with it!

Public figure should keep within the bounds of their contracts, especially when taxpayers like me pay their wages.

Regardless of your opinion on his views, I think it's ridiculous to say that anyone paid by the bbc cannot speak about their political views.

Newsreaders and journalists, fair enough, they should be impartial.
Football pundits? No, I don't think they need to be.

@Dulra I attended marches calling for an end to the war in Syria. I know many others who did too so I'm not sure about that point that people didn't care then.
How Asad is not on trial in the Hague is beyond me for what he has done to his own people and his own country.

How would you describe the silence on the Uyghurs then? Our Foreign Sec is right up China's backside.

When it comes to Israel, there's always an excuse about the fixation. Always.

(And I'm not particularly 'pro-Israel' btw - well not by the definition of posters on Mumsnet anyway).

@Dulra You might have cared, but a lot of people haven't. Well in the UK they very briefly did in 2015, but that Syrian's were being targeted with chemical weapons wasn't what they cared about.

@onegrumpyoldwoman ok, at this stage it's been termed "plausible" genocide. Still looks pretty bad though, gotta admit?

But let's focus back on how "awful" lineker is for daring to highlight this.