Pep Guardiola calls for support for Palestine and UNRWA in emotional video

Pep Guardiola has urged people to support Palestine and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), describing the situation in Gaza as “a very dark moment in our history”.

The former Manchester City manager delivered the message in a video published on UNRWA’s Spanish-language social media accounts.

“ They have not died; they have been killed. They are not numbers. They are lives with names, faces, families, dreams and memories. They are not collateral damage; they are children and young people,” Guardiola said.

“When we stop calling things by their name, when we accept language that hides pain, we begin to lose our humanity.

“We are living through a very dark moment in our history. We see children in Gaza searching for their parents in the rubble, asking for help and suffering from hunger.

“We see them losing everything. Even if they manage to grow up, the hell continues, together with the dehumanisation of the Palestinian people.

“Their lives matter as much as ours. Their pain is not foreign to us.”

Guardiola said people must continue to show solidarity with Palestine and claimed that “the Israeli government has killed more than 74,000 people in Gaza”.

“They continue to obstruct the entry of humanitarian aid. While Gaza remains destroyed, they continue demolishing Palestinian homes and forcibly displacing people in the West Bank,” he added.

He also said the suffering of Palestinian refugees had lasted for decades.

“In this context, it is important to remember something for the millions of refugees and displaced people from Palestine: the suffering did not begin recently. They have lived with violence and loss for decades,” he said.

“Grief, trauma and injustice have continued, and yet they have carried on. We admire the resilience of the Palestinian people, but they should not have to be resilient. Entire generations should not have to demonstrate their ability to endure suffering.

“No child should grow up learning how to survive instead of how to live.”

Guardiola praised UNRWA, saying the organisation had stood alongside Palestinian refugees for more than 75 years by providing healthcare, protection and humanitarian assistance.

“But UNRWA is much more than aid,” he said. “It is memory too. It is the institution that has preserved the history, identity and rights of generations of Palestinian refugees. It is proof that their existence cannot be erased.

“Today, supporting UNRWA is more important than ever.”

Guardiola said refusing to support the agency meant supporting those who continued to endure hunger, violence, fear and abandonment as the destruction continued.

“Silence must not be imposed, and we must not remain silent,” he said. “We cannot look the other way.

“Palestine needs justice and peace. Please continue talking about Palestine and continue defending humanity against indifference.

“Please support UNRWA if you can, so it can continue helping those most in need. Thank you very much.”

It is not the first time Guardiola has publicly supported the Palestinian cause. He previously attended a solidarity event at Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain, involving 30 artists, and wore a Palestinian keffiyeh.

Before a friendly between Palestine and the Catalonia national team, he said: “The world has abandoned Palestine. We have done absolutely nothing.”

He added: “It is not their fault that they were born. We have allowed an entire people to be destroyed.”

Guardiola also said: “The damage has been done and cannot be repaired. We must do something more decisive, but I have no confidence in these leaders.”

He has also appeared in a video calling for demonstrations in support of Gaza against genocide.