Paul Gascoigne used to fear hearing about the Gaza Strip on the news, because he would routinely mix up his own nickname with the Palestinian territory that borders Israel.
The former England, Newcastle and Spurs player (and Raoul Moat’s best mate) has been nicknamed Gazza throughout his career, which is just one letter away from the name of the Palestinian territory. No wonder he got so confused…
The current conflict has seen Gascoigne’s comments from a 2015 interview resurface:
“Sometimes it’s got to the stage now where I hate Saturday nights, because jack s*** knows what’s coming in the papers on Sunday. I tell you what was the worst one, the Gaza Strip. You know the term the Gaza Strip, remember that? That was murder for me.”
“I’d be sitting there having a shave and that, and the news would come on, ‘And the Gazza…’, and I’d be like, ‘What’s that?!’, and I realised it was the Gaza Strip. I couldn’t wait for that to end.”
Fair enough really. Can’t imagine all the booze and yayo helped matters, but it looks like he’s figured it out since then. Meanwhile, current Spurs player Manor Solomon, an Israeli, has taken to social media to share his fears over his family and friends following the attacks by Hamas in recent days:
“In the past two days my country, my family, my friends and my beloved people have been going through hell. Over 800 Israelis have been murdered – the most murdered in one day since the Holocaust! Over 150 people have been kidnapped – including women, children, babies and elderly people.”
Let’s hope the situation is resolved as peacefully as possible, although we all know that won’t be peacefully at all. For Gazza’s peace of mind, too. Never forget:
If you’d like our rundown on what the Israel/Palestine conflict is all about, click HERE.
