Always quick to take a position on social issues, Éric Cantona discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through his social networks on Tuesday. “Free Palestine”, shared the former French footballer in an Instagram story, before publishing a long message in which he tries to qualify the position of those who demand this freedom for the Palestinians.
“Defending the human rights of Palestinians does not mean being pro-Hamas,” recalls Cantona. Saying “freedom for Palestine” does not mean being anti-Semitic or “wanting all Jews to disappear.” According to the former Blues striker, aged 57, “freedom for Palestine” means “freedom for the Palestinians from the Israeli occupation which has robbed them of their most basic human rights for 75 years”.
It also means “stopping 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom are children, in the largest open-air prison in the world”, and “putting an end to the apartheid imposed by the Israeli government. Finally, for Cantona, “freedom for Palestine” also means “giving Palestinians control over the basic infrastructure of their territory”.
In 2021, Cantona advertised the “Hoping Foundation” association which sought to raise “aid to support emergency interventions in Gaza from the Palestine Medical Aid Association”. Last year, he wore a special jersey, the funds raised from the sale of which were intended for Palestinian refugees.
Also in 2022, Cantona announced that he would not watch “not a single match” of the World Cup in Qatar, denouncing in particular the thousands of deaths on stadium construction sites. A former player for Auxerre, Marseille and Manchester United, Cantona has kept his distance from the world of football since his retirement in 1997. He turned to beach soccer, serving as coach of the France team between 2004 and 2011.
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