Arsenal kitman sacked over Israel-Palestine tweets sues club for discrimination
Mr Bonnick says he is opposed to Zionism, which he believes is a racist ideology, and he believes he was treated differently by Arsenal to the way others employees would have been they had posted about political views on other topics.
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Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Gary Lineker banned from Jewish friend's memorial after BBC exit forced U-turn
The son of Jewish football journalist Brian Glanville, who passed away last month, has said he won't allow Gary Lineker "anywhere near" his father's memorial service after his recent post on zionism The son of Brian Glanville has said that he won't let Gary Lineker"anywhere near" his father's memorial due to his contentious remarks about Israel. Glanville was a highly respected football journalist who died at 93 last month, becoming friends with Lineker during his early playing career at Leicester City. The Glanvilles had contemplated inviting Lineker to give an address at St Bride's Church on Fleet Street in London in memory of the veteran journalist, who was Jewish. However, plans for Lineker's involvement were abandoned after he sparked controversy by reposting a video on anti-Zionism featuring an image of a rat, leading to his accelerated exit from the BBC. Mark Glanville said: "I can't have somebody coming to speak at my dad's memorial service who, though not anti-Semitic, is someone who is giving ammunition to people who are anti-Semites. Once you share a picture of a rat which is associated with Nazis, you really are crossing a line." Nazi propaganda infamously used rat imagery to vilify Jews, and Mark noted that his father would not have approved of Lineker participating in the service despite respecting his talents on the pitch and as a presenter of Match Of The Day, reports the Daily Record. Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Mark shared how the Holocaust left a profound impression on his father, born in 1931, who also faced anti-Jewish bigotry while attending Charterhouse School in Surrey. He said: "Dad was passionate about Israel. "He was a schoolboy during the Second World War but he was aware of what happened. He saw Israel, after all the utter horror, like so many Jews, as a country that was Jewish and where Jews could thrive as Jews and be safe. "I do not think Lineker is anti-Semite. But he does single out almost exclusively Israel, as so many people do, with the type of criticism that gives no context of what happened on October 7 and what has triggered it all. "As he is such a major public figure, he is lending a lot of fuel to people who have a very different agenda and who really don't just hate Israel, but also detest Jews. I believe Lineker really cares about issues but I wish he would talk about what is going on in Syria, in Sudan and with women in Afghanistan." Reflecting on his father's legacy, Mark added: "We felt that for a man of such stature, dad deserved a proper memorial service and my sister suggested inviting Gary Lineker to speak, saying that he had really loved dad's work. But I said that while this was undoubtedly the case, loads of other people were admirers of dad's work as well. "I then said there was no way Lineker was coming anywhere near it. She was very understanding as I explained that in my view Lineker was an exceptionally talented footballer and that is where it should have stayed." At 64, Lineker was already due to step down from Match of the Day at the end of the season, though it was intended he would continue to cover the FA Cup and World Cup for the BBC. Despite his firm stance that he "would never consciously repost anything anti-Semitic", his exit from the Corporation occurred last month after the row concerning the depiction of a rat. He said: "However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Daily Record
4 days ago
- Daily Record
Gary Lineker barred from speaking at Jewish football icon Brian Glanville's funeral over controversial post
The son of the late football writer has said he will not have Lineker "anywhere near" his father's memorial service The son of the late football journalist Brian Glanville has stated that he won't allow Gary Lineker"anywhere near" his father's memorial service due to his criticisms of Israel. Brian Glanville, a renowned former Daily Express sports reporter who passed away at 93, was Jewish and had been friends with Lineker since the ex-footballer's early days at Leicester City. The family had considered inviting Lineker to speak at a service at St Bride's Church on London's Fleet Street. However, this was before Lineker was compelled to leave the BBC after sharing an anti-Zionism post featuring an illustration of a rat. Mark Glanville commented: "I can't have somebody coming to speak at my Dad's memorial service who, though not anti-Semitic, is someone who is giving ammunition to people who are anti-Semites. Once you share a picture of a rat which is associated with Nazis, you really are crossing a line." The Nazis used images of rats to depict Jews, and Mark added that his father, who passed away last month from Parkinson's Disease, would not have wanted Lineker to speak, despite his respect for him as a player and Match Of The Day presenter. He revealed to the Mail on Sunday that the atrocities of the Holocaust deeply impacted his father, who was born in 1931 and experienced anti-Semitic abuse at the fee-paying Charterhouse School in Surrey. Mark revealed: "Dad was passionate about Israel. He was a schoolboy during the Second World War but he was aware of what happened. "He saw Israel, after all the utter horror, like so many Jews, as a country that was Jewish and where Jews could thrive as Jews and be safe. "I do not think Lineker is anti-Semite. But he does single out almost exclusively Israel, as so many people do, with the type of criticism that gives no context of what happened on October 7 and what has triggered it all. "As he is such a major public figure, he is lending a lot of fuel to people who have a very different agenda and who really don't just hate Israel, but also detest Jews. "I believe Lineker really cares about issues but I wish he would talk about what is going on in Syria, in Sudan and with women in Afghanistan." Reflecting on his father's legacy, Mark said: "We felt that for a man of such stature, Dad deserved a proper memorial service and my sister suggested inviting Gary Lineker to speak, saying that he had really loved Dad's work. "But I said that while this was undoubtedly the case, loads of other people were admirers of Dad's work as well. I then said there was no way Lineker was coming anywhere near it. "She was very understanding as I explained that in my view Lineker was an exceptionally talented footballer and that is where it should have stayed." Lineker himself acknowledged, 'I recognise the upset that I caused'. Lineker, 64, was set to leave Match of the Day at season's end while still covering the FA Cup and World Cup for the BBC. Nonetheless, his departure from the Corporation came last month following a dispute over the rat image, despite his insistence that he "would never consciously repost anything antisemitic". He acknowledged: "However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action."
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
Professor sues University of California for suspension over comments about Israel's war in Gaza
A professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, says the university violated her freedom of speech rights by suspending her for her online comments about Israel's war in Gaza in a new lawsuit. The suit was filed by Rupa Marya, an internal medicine physician and professor at UCSF, identified as an expert in decolonial theory. Marya was placed on leave in September 2024 and had her clinical privileges briefly suspended by the UCSF executive medical board following comments she made on X that questioned the impacts of Zionism as 'a supremacist, racist ideology' on healthcare. Without naming Marya directly, the university subsequently published a statement across its social media accounts that said such comments were a 'tired and racist conspiracy theory' that 'Zionist doctors were a threat to Arab, Palestinian, South Asian, Muslin and Black patients, as well as the US healthcare system' and should be condemned. Mark Kleiman, an attorney for Marya, said in the court filing that his client was fired last month 'despite requesting a hearing, which she was entitled to', according to NBC News. 'Firing Dr Marya doesn't only violate her right to free speech, it threatens all of us,' he said in a statement to the network. 'We all need to urgently speak up against these kinds of attacks on our basic rights to advocate for justice, and we expect the court will agree with us that Dr Marya's rights have been violated and must be remedied.' According to court documents, Marya's posts 'never impeded the performance of her duties as a physician or faculty member, or the regular operation of the university'. 'As a medical doctor, American citizen and as a person of south Asian descent raised in the Sikh religious tradition, Dr Marya has long been concerned about American foreign policy, including in the Middle East and the issues surrounding the conflict between Israel and Palestine,' the complaint reads. 'Her posts take aim at state policy and supremacist political ideologies, not at any religious or ethnic group.' According to the lawsuit, Marya received 'rape and death threats' as well as 'repeated harassment and threats' because of her posts. She says her posts also expressed 'solidarity with the hospitals and healthcare workers that Israel was attacking in Gaza' and that she 'felt an obligation to speak out and did so using her X account'. In a September 2024 post, Marya wrote on social media that UCSF students were concerned that a first-year student from Israel may have served in the IDF; she asked 'if he participated in the genocide of Palestinians' and asked her colleagues what to do about it. The post drew the attention of state senator Scott Wiener, who posted on X that 'the same UCSF professor who promoted the 'doctors' plot' – an age old antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jewish doctors are harming patients – is now targeting a 1st year med student for harassment b/c he's Israeli. This professor is creating a toxic, hostile environment at UCSF.' UCSF's chancellor, Sam Hawgood, said he took 'immediate action to address this situation,' adding that 'targeting any member of our UCSF community – especially in a way that fosters hostility or discrimination – will not be tolerated', according to a letter obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle. In a March interview with the Guardian, Marya asked: 'How do we integrate [Israeli] reservists into the medical community – with [Palestinian] students who have lost 50 or 60 family members? What is the moral obligation of medicine?' The lawsuit comes as there is ongoing and widespread disagreement across the US about academic freedom on college campuses. Last week, the Trump administration stepped up its efforts to force US universities to crack down on what it deems antisemitic activity. The Department of Education warned New York's Columbia University it could lose accreditation, and thus access to federal grants, over an alleged violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. The Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services said last month that it had found that Columbia had acted with 'deliberate indifference' toward the harassment of Jewish students during campus protests. Israel's war in Gaza is estimated to have killed more than 54,000 Palestinians and levelled much of the territory. Last week, the Guardian reported that on Sunday at least 31 Palestinians were killed after Israeli forces opened fire near a food distribution center in Rafah, Gaza. A separate incident at the same site on Monday killed three. International criticism intensified last week over a new aid distribution system in Gaza, run by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and not UN or international aid organisations. The UN's human rights chief, Volker Türk, said that Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: 'Die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available.' The attacks on civilians, he added, constituted a war crime. The Guardian has contacted UCSF and Marya's legal team for comment.
