Thread by @steveygAFC

A thread on George Galloway, #georgegalloway his comments about #Spurs and #Israel, and his sacking by @talkRADIO. What surprised me, but l shouldn’t have, are those who feel that he was somehow a victim of those who seek to shutdown free-speech.1/

This is so wide of the mark it’s untrue.

People know that Spurs fans have been the victims of racist abuse for years. Spurs have always had a ‘relatively’ large Jewish following, and other clubs started to use the racial slur as far back as the 60s & 70s to insult Spurs fans2/

As an Arsenal fan? who attended throughout the years which coincided with the appalling rise of racism in football, directed at black players. I also had to witness horrendous antisemitic abuse around me directed to our rival club Spurs. 3:

This included songs & chants about yids, about gassing & killing Jews.

Arsenal weren’t the worst, other London clubs with a far-right fanbase, were far uglier in their use of anti-Jewish chants & abuses aimed at Spurs fans, including the vast majority who weren’t Jewish. 4/

In defiance of this, Spurs fans took to identifying themselves as ‘Yids’. They adopted the name ‘Yid Army’, a few carried Israel flags as a symbol of ‘racist’ defiance. It was never a political statement, which is what some have used to somehow justify Galloway’s words. 5/

In recent years the spectre of racism has started to return to football. The abuse England’s black footballers & many black footballers have suffered in recent years has been increasingly ugly. The football authorities & the media have committed to removing this from the game. 6/

There has also been a concerted effort to remove anti-Semitic chanting & abuse from stadia, and the antisemitic chants are far less than they use to be, though sadly not eradicated. The FA adopted the slogan ‘Kick Racism Out of Football’. 7/

That is the context.

Anyone in football knows this context. Galloway knows this. He‘s talked about going to see Dundee U & Scotland play. He‘s been involved with a campaign to help ex-England player Nobby Styles, he’s been seen at Man U. His comment show he knows this. 8/

What #GeorgeGalloway did was to make a point of celebrating Liverpool’s victory & making a point of celebrating a defeat for Spurs’ & bringing the racial element into that defeat. Goading Spur’s fans who have suffered decades of antisemitic abuse. 9/

Spurs fans have never been identified with Israel, but with Jews. Yes a few carry Israeli flags, but not many. You see some dotted around, but you see more South Korean flags in praise of their South Korean striker. Galloway’s entire point was based on the Jewish connection.10/

But he went further. He associated this tweet with class struggle, the death of 96 people in the Hillsborough disaster, portraying Jews & Israel as the enemy. This was a vile tweet by all accounts. And he has since doubled down, rather than even a hint of apology. 11/

Ok this was vile in its own right, but did he deserve the sack from #TalkRadio?

Talk Radio is the sister station of #TalkSport, @talksport is a radio station I listen to often. They have been at the forefront of the fight against racism in football. 12/

@talksport have made great efforts to spread the anti-racist message amongst football fans. It was wholly appropriate & consistent for them to take this action, any thing else would have been hypocritical. 13/

#GeorgeGalloway has been a vociferous opponent of Israel, he‘s entitled to his views, we live in a society which values free speech. But he crossed the line, his language was seen by many as racist, highly offensive & contradictory to the fight against racism in football. 14/14