Police disperse pro-Palestinian activists outside Israel v Norway match
Norwegian police on Saturday dispersed a gathering of pro-Palestinian activists with tear gas and made several arrests in Oslo during Israel's defeat to Norway in a World Cup qualifier, according to AFP journalists.
Norway won the match 5-0 at the Ullevaal Stadium, which was surrounded by a heavy police presence.
Prior to the game, a peaceful demonstration involving several hundred people had taken place in Oslo's city centre, and pro-Palestinian actions took place inside the stadium just before kickoff.
Outside the stadium, riot police used tear gas to push back a few dozen activists, many of whom had masked their faces, and police made several arrests.
Just before kick-off, activists briefly unfurled a giant Palestinian flag and a large banner reading "Let Children Live" inside the Ullevaal Stadium, where several dozen Israeli fans could be seen waving their country's flag and a banner reading "Let the Ball Talk!".
Whistling could be heard during the Israeli national anthem. The Israeli players were booed, and a man wearing a "Free Palestine" jersey ran onto the pitch during the match before being taken off.
During the pro-Palestinian demonstration in central Oslo earlier, many participants wore Palestinian keffiyeh shawls draped over their shoulders and waved Palestinian flags.
Some smoke flares were lit but the atmosphere remained calm.
"The message today is to say we give the red card to Israel, to apartheid, and to genocide," said Line Khateeb, the head of the Norwegian Committee for Palestine, one of the organisers of the protest.
"We do not accept football being used to whitewash war crimes, as we see today when Israel participates in the World Cup qualification games," she told AFP.
Demonstrators carried banners with slogans including "Exclude Israel from International Football", "From the River to the Sea" and "It's a Genocide, Not a War".
"Israel has been committing genocide for the last two years and killing indiscriminately, doing the most horrible thing that could be imaginable," one of the demonstrators, Munib Sarwar, a 40-year-old engineer, told AFP.
"We need to show solidarity with the children and the people of Gaza who have been terrorised for the last two years," he added.
- Call for ban -
Organisers decided to go ahead with the demonstration despite the Gaza ceasefire deal reached Thursday between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
"It's not the end of the occupation. It doesn't mean the West Bank is free. It doesn't mean Palestine is free. We need to keep pushing and putting sanctions on Israel to hold them accountable in order to have a proper free Palestine," Khateeb said.
Dozens of police officers on horseback and others in riot gear were posted near the stadium, an AFP journalist saw.
The head of the Football Association of Norway (NFF), Lise Klaveness, recently said she was pushing "for Israel to be sanctioned".
"Personally, I think that if Russia is excluded, Israel should be as well," she said in a Norwegian podcast.
Several days after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, UEFA and FIFA agreed to exclude Russian teams and clubs from all international competitions, a sanction that remains in place.
The NFF has previously said it would donate the proceeds from the ticket sales for Saturday's match to Doctors Without Borders.
With its victory over Israel, Norway top Group I of European qualifying with 18 points ahead of Italy and Israel, who both have nine points. Italy were facing Estonia later Saturday.
L.Bennett--VC
