The politician was accused of posting an anti-Semitic message to Twitter in the wake of Liverpool FC’s win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final.
He wrote: “Congratulations to the great people of #Liverpool to the memory of the socialist miner #BillShankley to the fallen #96 to those who fought for justice for them and to the Liverpool dockers. No #Israel flags on the Cup!”
The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant was subsequently fired from his TalkRadio show. A spokesperson for the station said: “TalkRadio has terminated George Galloway’s weekly show with immediate effect. As a fair and balanced news provider, TalkRadio does not tolerate antisemitic views.”
Today on Good Morning Britain, Galloway was involved in a debate about his comments with Tottenham supporter Lord Sugar, who is Jewish.
In the studio, he first spoke with Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid about the Israeli flag as he said: “It’s the flag of apartheid. I have spent 45 years fighting for the Palestinian people.”
Piers then declared: “You also know that Tottenham Hotspur has a very large Jewish following. Many of the fans will show an Israel flag from time to time. They are proud of their Jewish heritage.”
Galloway replied: “Many Jews in Britain and the world are completely against… [and] I’m against, Israel.”
Piers went on to challenge Galloway, as he stated: “You were choosing that moment to gloat that a Jewish-supported football team had lost the Champions League. You know that.
“This is not Alice in Wonderland where you get to choose what the words mean,” Galloway retorted.
He later went on to claim: “Take a look at my Twitter line and you will see a significant number of Jewish people supporting me.”
Susanna added: “Anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise, George.”
“Don’t talk to me about attacks, I’ll show you my scars,” Galloway hit back.
He’s talking a load of garbage
Lord Sugar
When it came to Lord Sugar’s response, he said that Galloway was a “liar” as he personally had never seen the Israeli flag flown at football matches.
“He’s talking a load of garbage as usual,” Lord Sugar began as he spoke via video link from his Essex home.
The businessman continued: “I walked with 1500 Tottenham fans and Liverpool fans.
“I have never seen an Israeli flag flown. There were no Israeli flags with the fans. I’ve never seen an Israeli flag flown, he’s a b****y liar. A total liar.”
Galloway chimed in to add: “Just Google it and you’ll see hundreds of them.”
Lord Sugar was clearly incensed as he replied: “Just shut your mouth. Shut your mouth for a minute, just shut your mouth.”
Morgan then intervened as the moment became quite heated between the pair.
“What his opinions are on Israel are his opinions on Israel,” Lord Sugar replied as he continued: “The fact he put it in a tweet about the Champions League is anti-Semitic.
“It was absolutely designed to show that he’s an anti-Semite. What has Israel got to do with a game of football between [Tottenham] and Liverpool?”
Lord Sugar went to to say he wanted Galloway to apologise live on TV for his comments, but when asked if he would by Morgan, Galloway opted not to.
He replied: “Israel is not Judaism, Judaism is not Israel. I love Jews. I don’t like Israel.”
In response to Galloway’s initial tweet, a spokesperson for Tottenham Hotspurs said: “It’s astounding in this day and age to read such blatant antisemitism published on a social platform by someone who is still afforded air time on a radio station on which he has previously broken broadcast impartiality rules.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
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