Kit man Mark Bonnick has sued Arsenal after he was fired by the club
After being fired last Christmas eve for posting critical remarks about Israel’s activities in Gaza on social media, a longtime employee of Arsenal’s academy named Mark Bonnick has filed a lawsuit against the Premier League team.
Who is Mark Bonnick, ex-Arsenal FC kit man sacked by club for Israel-Palestine posts on Twitter/X
After more than 20 years of service, Arsenal fired former kit man Mark Bonnick. Not for any wrongdoing but simply for standing with Palestine.
There was no misconduct. No hate. Just solidarity.@Arsenal must apologise, reinstate Mark, and stop silencing support for Palestine. pic.twitter.com/zpRFJvTBR3— Leyla Hamed (@leylahamed) May 16, 2025
The 61-year-old Mark Bonnick spent 22 years with Arsenal in a variety of positions, most recently as a youth academy kit man. He says that on Christmas Eve 2023, he was wrongly fired for posting pro-Palestinian content on X (previously Twitter) and is now suing the club from wrongful dismisal.
His lawyer, Franck Magennis, who is being instructed by the European Legal Support Centre, said: “Mark Bonnick was right to speak out, in accordance with his deeply held anti-Zionist beliefs, against Israel’s nakedly racist violence and the colonial ideology that justifies it. Arsenal FC dismissed him in an unfair and discriminatory manner; they should admit their mistake and give him his job back.”
Bonnick, 61 worked his way up from casual Arsenal coaching roles in the early 2000s to a full-time kitman position supporting the youth teams.
In his complaint to the Employment Tribunal, Bonnick claims that Arsenal violated his right to free speech and fired him unfairly.
In his legal submission, Bonnick refers to five replies on X in November 2024 and December last year, including: “Yes it is all about Jewish supremacy & not wanting to share the land Ethnic cleansing”; “Why should they be protected anymore than any other community? Some see this as the problem Jewish communities thinking they should be put before others”; “What about the Jews that attack Christians?”
Bonnick’s posts said “Hamas offered to release all hostages in October. Zionist Israel refused. Persecution complex”; and on that offer he also posted: “You abandoned them … Refused to bring them home … Your silence was deafening … Now you want others to scream … Morals integrity honesty none … Mark of Cain.”
Bonnick, who worked at the club from the early 2000s, alleges his dismissal was discriminatory. At the time of his termination last year, Mark Bonnick, 61, was employed as a kit man at Arsenal’s youth player program and had been a part of the London club’s community coaching team for 22 years.
According to Bonnick, he had planned to stay at Arsenal until retirement and had collaborated with both current and former players including Jack Wilshere, Bukayo Saka, and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Arsenal's former kitman is suing the club for unfair dismissal over pro-Palestine posts online.
Mark Bonnick was kitman for Arsenal for over 20 years when he was fired on Christmas Eve last year.
His dismissal followed a campaign accusing him of antisemitism for posts opposing… pic.twitter.com/xSDsXn5owA
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) May 16, 2025
However, Bonnick was let go from his position on December 24 of last year after the club told him that his pro-Palestine social media remarks had damaged the club’s reputation.
According to Bonnick, he has had trouble finding employment since then and is currently making what he can by taking on odd tasks. At the moment, he works as a labourer on a building site.
Mark Bonnick’s suspension
After receiving a complaint from a group of supporters regarding allegedly antisemitic remarks on his account, the club suspended Mark Bonnick on December 11.
Arsenal acknowledged that his posts were not formally considered antisemitic, but they used public opinion and media coverage as grounds for firing him.
Arsenal informed Bonnick that his use of phrases like “ethnic cleansing” and “Jewish supremacy” in relation to Israel was “inflammatory” and “reasonably likely to cause genuine offence,” according to records.
Since then, Bonnick has removed his X account, claiming that his posts were taken out of context and distorted. He insists that his remarks were in line with the stances of human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, and Amnesty International and were a part of a broader political critique of Israeli policies.