MAN UNITED’S PAUL POGBA FINDS SUPPORT AFTER SHOWING SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE

Wed 19 May 2021:

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said the views of players have to be respected after Paul Pogba and Amad Diallo held up a Palestine flag following Tuesday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Fulham.

Players Pogba and Diallo, the stars of the English Manchester United team, raise the Palestinian flag at Old Trafford in solidarity with Palestine.#AlAqsaMosque #Jerusalem #Israel #Palestine #SheikhJarrah #Gaza pic.twitter.com/CA3H4SiuFL

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) May 19, 2021

At least 219 Palestinians, including 63 children, have been killed in Gaza since the latest violence flared on May 10. About 1,500 Palestinians have been wounded.

Twelve people in Israel have died, including two children, while at least 300 Israelis have been wounded.

Pogba appeared to be given the flag by a fan as the players made their way around the pitch during the traditional lap of honour after United’s 1-1 draw with Fulham at Old Trafford.

The French World Cup winner and Ivorian winger Diallo displayed the flag with about 10,000 fans watching after coronavirus restrictions were lifted.

“Pray for Palestine,” Pogba wrote on Instagram after the match, in a post accompanied by a photo showing him carrying the Palestinian flag. “Let’s keep our world safe and free from violence.”

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A post shared by Paul Labile Pogba (@paulpogba)

Despite the escalating violence – now in its tenth day – diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers have failed to make much headway.

Thousands of protesters marched in support of Palestinians on Saturday in major European cities including London, Berlin, Madrid and Paris, as the worst violence in years raged between Israel and fighters in Gaza.

Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury and Wesley Fofana had also held up a Palestine flag after the FA Cup final on Saturday and Solskjaer said his players had a right to their own views.

“I think we need to have players from different backgrounds, different cultures, different countries, and I think we need to respect their views if they differ from someone else’s,” Solskjaer told reporters.

“If my players think about other things than football that’s a positive thing and I think we’ve seen that with some of the players before that they do care about.

“Say Marcus Rashford, for example, the difference he’s made. We respect their right to have a different view.”

Dutch side PSV Eindhoven’s Israeli forward Eran Zahavi responded to Pogba and Diallo by posting an edited picture of the pair on Instagram, replacing the Palestine flag they were carrying with an Israel one.

“Thanks guys,” Zahavi wrote in a caption that included an Israel flag. “We appreciate your support all over the world.”