Protesters ignite smoke flares during a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in protest against Israel, near Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo (Norway), on October 11, 2025, before the 2026 World Cup qualifying match between Norway and Israel. (Javad Parsa/AFP.)
Several hundred people demonstrated Saturday in Oslo, chanting "Free Palestine" and protesting against the "whitewashing of war crimes" through football, just hours before the kickoff of Norway-Israel in a 2026 World Cup qualifier, an AFP journalist observed.
Wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, the protesters gathered in the city center before walking to Ullevaal Stadium, surrounded by flares and maintaining a calm atmosphere.
"The message today is that we are showing the red card to Israel, to apartheid and to genocide," Line Khateeb, president of the Norwegian Committee for Palestine — one of the groups behind the demonstration — told AFP.
"We reject the use of football to whitewash war crimes, as is happening today with Israel’s participation in World Cup qualifying matches," she said.
Protest signs read slogans such as "Exclude Israel from international football," "From the river to the sea," "Red card to Israel," and "This is genocide, not war."
The organizers decided to go ahead with the demonstration despite the cease-fire agreement reached Thursday between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza.
"This does not end the occupation. It does not mean the West Bank is free. It does not mean Palestine is free. We must continue to push and impose sanctions on Israel to hold them accountable so that Palestine can truly be free," Khateeb said.
The match is taking place under heightened security. Numerous police officers on horseback and in riot gear were stationed near the stadium, an AFP journalist noted.
Norwegian federation chief Lise Klaveness recently said she is working "for Israel to be sanctioned." "Personally, I believe that if Russia is excluded, Israel should be excluded as well," she said on a Norwegian podcast.
A few days after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, UEFA and FIFA jointly banned Russian national and club teams from international competitions, a sanction that remains in effect. The ticket proceeds from the Norway-Israel match will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), the Norwegian Football Federation announced. With five wins in five matches, Norway leads Group I ahead of Italy and Israel.
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