OSLO: Several hundred people demonstrated and expressed support for the Palestinian cause in Oslo on Saturday as Israel faced Norway in a football World Cup qualifier, journalists reported.

Activists briefly unfurled a giant Palestinian flag and a large banner reading “Let Children Live” inside the Ullevaal Stadium, where only several dozen Israeli fans could be seen waving their country’s flag and a banner reading “Let the Ball Talk!”.

A pro-Palestinian activist was forcibly removed from the stands. Whistling could be heard during the Israeli national anthem and the Israeli players were booed before the game.

Several hours before the match, hundreds of people attended a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Oslo, chanting “Free Palestine” to protest against Israel’s “genocide”.

Many demonstrators wore Palestinian keffiyeh shawls draped over their shoulders and waved Palestinian flags as they gathered in the city centre before marching to the stadium. 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 said.

Demonstrators carried banners reading “Exclude Israel from International Football”, “From the River to the Sea”, “Red Card to Israel” 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, said.

“We need to show solidarity with the children and the people of Gaza who have been terrorised for the last two years,” he added. 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.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2025