“Silence Cracks”: Pep Guardiola backs Palestine solidarity conference

• The conference will bring together activists, academics, artists and public figures to discuss the future of the Palestinian solidarity movement.
• Guardiola's video message calls for collective action against what the movement describes as occupation, apartheid and genocide, urging people to challenge complicity and demand accountability.
• The endorsement adds to Guardiola's history of publicly expressing solidarity with Palestinians, including his calls for attention to the suffering of children in Gaza.

Catalan football manager Pep Guardiola has endorsed an upcoming European conference of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, calling on supporters to gather in Barcelona in November to advance solidarity with Palestinians and challenge what he described as a culture of silence around injustice.

In a video message shared by the movement, Guardiola invited people to attend the BDS@20 Europe Regional Conference, scheduled for Nov. 18–20, as he reflected on the campaign's origins, its two decades of international advocacy and the continuing struggle for Palestinian rights.

“We have to see each other in Barcelona, from November 18 to 20,” Guardiola said, describing the gathering as an opportunity to bring together people committed to shaping the future of Palestinian solidarity.

Recalling the influence of the late British writer John Berger, who regarded Palestinian history as emblematic of the struggle against extreme injustice, Guardiola traced the movement's origins to a Palestinian call inspired by the international campaign against apartheid in South Africa.

“Twenty-one years ago, inspired by the long struggle against South African apartheid, a Palestinian call gave rise to a global solidarity movement. That is how BDS was born,” he said.

The BDS movement advocates boycotts, divestment and sanctions as means of applying non-violent pressure on ‘Israel’ over its treatment of Palestinians. Its stated objectives include ending the occupation, securing equal rights and upholding Palestinian refugees' right of return.

Guardiola described the campaign as a collective effort to demand accountability and justice, arguing that meaningful change requires sustained public pressure and opposition to complicity.

“It has been 21 years of defying the law of silence,” he said, referring to the movement's history of mobilization. “Because no genocide has ever stopped on its own, and peace never arrives on its own.”

The November conference is expected to feature prominent Palestinian rights advocates, legal experts, academics, journalists and artists from Europe and beyond. Speakers announced include Naledi Pandor, South Africa's former minister of international relations and cooperation; Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967; and international law scholar Noura Erakat.

Other listed participants include British-Palestinian surgeon and academic Ghassan Abu-Sittah, Massive Attack musician Robert Del Naja, actress Hiba Abouk, Spanish presenter Inés Hernand, journalist Olga Rodríguez and BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti.

The gathering aims to examine the present and future of international solidarity with Palestinians, bringing together campaigners and cultural figures at a time when the movement continues to press governments, institutions and businesses to reconsider their ties with ‘Israel’.

“From South Africa to Palestine, we know complicity ends when silence cracks, when we raise our voices and make solidarity beat,” Guardiola said in the video, invoking the legacy of US activist and scholar Angela Davis.

He closed with an appeal to attend the conference “for the future of Palestine, which is the future of our humanity,” alongside the Catalan-language slogan, “Bridges against walls.”

Guardiola's previous expressions of solidarity

The endorsement follows Guardiola's previous public expressions of concern for Palestinians, particularly children affected by ‘Israel's’ military assault on Gaza. He has used public appearances and speeches to draw attention to civilian suffering and the humanitarian consequences of the war.

In January 2025, while speaking at a charity event in Barcelona, Guardiola dedicated his remarks to children in Gaza and elsewhere affected by conflict, highlighting the destruction and loss experienced by young people. His comments reflected a broader pattern of using his public platform to address humanitarian issues beyond football.

Guardiola's support for the BDS conference places him alongside artists, academics and public figures who have backed campaigns for Palestinian rights and accountability. The movement's supporters regard economic and cultural pressure as a means of challenging policies they consider unlawful; critics of BDS dispute its approach and its implications for engagement with ‘Israel’.

Pep Guardiola, legendary footballer and one of the most decorated football managers of his generation, endorses the BDS@20 Europe Conference. Between 18–20 November, the BDS@20 Europe Regional Conference will feature some of the most influential figures advocating across Europe and beyond in the struggle for Palestinian liberation today. Speakers include Dr. Naledi Pandor, former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation for South Africa; Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur; Noura Erakat, leading scholar on international law and Israeli impunity; Ghassan Abu Sitta, British-Palestinian surgeon and scholar; Robert Del Naja, vocalist and producer, Massive Attack; Hiba Abouk, actress and advocate of Palestinian rights; Inés Hernand, Spanish presenter, communicator, and content creator; Olga Rodríguez, journalist, writer, and researcher; Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement.

— BDS movement (@BDSmovement) October 21, 2026