Pep Guardiola risks wrath with Palestine speech after Man City manager accused of 'endangering British Jews'

It was a quick turnaround as Guardiola was on the touchline at the Etihad during Manchester City's Champions League clash against Galatasaray on Wednesday, where the eight-time Premier League winners cruised to a 2-0 victory.

Wearing a black and white Palestinian keffiyeh, Guardiola spoke in support of children who had lost their parents during the war in Gaza.

He said: "I think what we think when I see a child in these past two years with these images on social media, on television, recording himself, pleading ‘where is my mother?’ among the rubble, and he still doesn’t know it.

"And I always think: what must they be thinking? And I think we have left them alone, abandoned.

"The powerful are cowards because they send innocent people to kill innocent people... while they are at home with heating when it’s cold and air conditioning when it’s hot.

"All of this is simply about humanity. Which is everything that is not happening in Palestine."

Guardiola received a standing ovation after his three-minute speech.

The message comes following accusations that the Manchester City boss has "put the lives of British Jews in Manchester, including those who support the football club, in danger".

The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region previously wrote to Manchester City's chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, in December.

The Council's correspondence criticises what it describes as a complete absence of support from the club following October's deadly terrorist attack on a synagogue in the city.

The attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in October left two people dead and three others seriously injured after assailant Jihad Al-Shamie carried out a car-ramming and stabbing assault.

Officers from Greater Manchester Police shot the attacker dead at the scene.

In its letter, the Council states Guardiola "has not uttered a word of solidarity or support, meaning it is our strongly held belief that he simply does not care that British Jews were murdered a few miles from the Etihad Stadium".

The organisation draws an unflattering comparison with the club's local rivals.

They noted that "Manchester United Football Club pushed for a minute's silence, something your club would not have done had Brentford not already had one planned as a mark of respect for someone connected with their football club".

Guardiola has long been vocal on the conflict in the Middle East, describing Israel's defence as a genocide.

In November last year, the manager said: "The world has left Palestine alone. We've done absolutely nothing.

"They're not at fault for being born there. We've all allowed them [Israel] to destroy an entire people. The damage is already done and it's irreparable."

The Spanish manager added: "There, for a very long time now, we have allowed the destruction of an entire people because they say, 'don't say genocide'.

"I am absolutely taking the side of Palestine: the innocent people who are murdered daily, because the man drawing this up decides what he decides, because if he is not capable of solving it through a ceasefire, gesture, the symbolism you mentioned, and only through force."

Guardiola is expected to travel back to Manchester on Friday ahead of City’s away trip to Tottenham on Sunday.

GB News has approached Manchester City for a comment.

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