Former England footballer attacked by former senior Israeli official and Israeli supporters for criticising abuse of human rights

Former England footballer and television presenter Gary Lineker stands and waves in the royal box on centre court before the start of the men’s singles third round match between Australia’s Samuel Groth and Switzerland’s Roger Federer on day six of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 4, 2015. RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE — AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS
Former England footballer Gary Lineker has been hounded by Israel supporters on Twitter after sharing a video of young Palestinian children being held in a small cage by Israeli forces.
The video, published by the human rights group B’tselem, shows Israeli soldiers gathering and violently detaining Palestinian youths in Hebron in the illegally occupied West Bank, on 13 October.
Lineker, now a successful television presenter who fronts the BBC’s flagship Match of the Day highlights show, shared a tweet containing the video which had originally been posted by Ben White, a pro-Palestinian journalist and activist and Middle East Eye contributor, and added the comment “sickening”.
Sickening. https://t.co/ndRH97Hkwx
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) December 11, 2017
White’s tweet was also shared by the UK branch of Amnesty International, which called on its supporters to sign a petition urging the British government to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank
Terrifying scenes from #Hebron. Stand by the Palestinian people by urging our government to take action to help them: https://t.co/JtVC5LC8Yg https://t.co/6TUkAH8t9A
— Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) December 12, 2017
Following his tweet, Lineker found himself in a row with the former spokesman for the Israeli army, Peter Lerner, who told him he had “completely missed the point”.