We have left them alone, abandoned: Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola on Gaza crisis
Barcelona: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on Thursday delivered a strongly worded speech condemning what he described as the “silence of global leaders” over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying Palestinians had been “left alone and abandoned”.
Guardiola was speaking at the ‘Act X Palestine’ benefit concert held at the Palau Sant Jordi arena in Barcelona, his birth city. The event was organised to raise funds for humanitarian aid and cultural reconstruction in Palestine.
Addressing a packed audience, the Catalan coach took to the stage draped in a traditional black-and-white scarf and opened his remarks with “Good evening”, followed by the Islamic greeting “Assalamualaikum”. Known for his outspoken views on human rights issues, Guardiola said the images emerging from Gaza over the past two years had deeply affected him, particularly those involving children separated from or searching for their parents amid the destruction.
Referring to widely circulated videos and photographs, he spoke about children recording themselves from beneath rubble and asking where their mothers were, saying many of them still do not know whether their parents are alive. According to international media reports, Guardiola described the situation as the result of “decades of oppression” and criticised world leaders for failing to act.
“I think we have left them alone, abandoned,” he said, adding that Palestinians must be wondering why the world has not come to help them. He accused powerful nations of hypocrisy, saying leaders who remain safe in comfort are willing to send innocent people to kill other innocent people. “The powerful are cowards,” he said, drawing sustained applause from the audience.
Guardiola underlined that his remarks were rooted in basic human values. “All of this is simply about humanity,” he said, adding that humanity, in his view, was precisely what was missing in the response to Palestine. He concluded his brief but emotional address by urging the audience to reflect on the message and work towards a more just and compassionate society.
During the speech, Guardiola reportedly drew parallels between the devastation in Gaza and Barcelona’s own past, recalling the bombing of the city during the Spanish Civil War in 1938. He suggested that historical memory should compel people to stand against suffering and injustice elsewhere.
The ‘Act X Palestine’ concert featured performances by a range of artists, including Bad Gyal, Lluís Llach and Palestinian singers Zeyne and Lina Makoul. Proceeds from the event are set to support cultural centres across Palestine through the Palestinian Performing Arts Network.
Guardiola has repeatedly spoken out on the Gaza conflict in recent years. In October 2025, he publicly urged people to pressure governments to take immediate action and voiced support for pro-Gaza demonstrations in Barcelona. Earlier, in June 2025, after receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester, he said the situation in Gaza caused him deep personal pain.
Videos of Guardiola’s latest speech have since gone viral on social media, drawing millions of views and reactions across the world.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
