Throughout Europe and North America we’ve seen numerous cases of police brutality against activists protesting the still-ongoing genocide in Palestine. Norway, the ostensibly tolerant social democratic “peace nation”, is no exception. On October 11th 2025, the national football teams of Norway and Israel played a match at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo, which was met with a large demonstration. In the ensuing crackdown on the protest, the police marched like a wall against demonstrators, used tear-gas on them, shoved and pinned them to the ground, dragged them out of buses, and ultimately arrested 22 people and gave them fines of upwards of NOK 18.000,- (ca €1900) ^{[1], [2]}.

The police attack on the demonstration on 11 October, the 22 arrested, and the persecution of the 3 Palestinian activists are attacks on the right to demonstrate and the right to express oneself. This is part of a trend across the Western world, of persecution of the Palestine solidarity movement and attacks on the people’s democratic rights.

The police claim they gave a warning to evacuate from the area which they say the demonstartors did not heed and only that at that point they escalated attack on the demonstration. The protestors themselves, however, say that if a warning was given, it was not given in a way they could hear, much less follow^[3]. Still, the police charged at people who were trying to leave, and arbitrarily seized people wearing keffiyehs, using “unnecessary” amounts of force^[4].

The security measures put in place on this day were unprecedented in Norway for a football match: roads towards the stadium were shut down, air space over Oslo was restricted, attendees to the game were prohibited from bringing bags larger than an A4 sheet into the stadium^[5], the 85 Israeli fans attending were given police escort to the stadium^[2], and the police presence was very conspicuous, with snipers, drones, helicopters, horses and civilian police around^[3]. The justification for all this was a threat assessment by the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), which stated that Israeli and Jewish targets were at risk^[5]. But what the security measures effectively amounted to was protection for current and veteran IDF soldiers on the one hand and an erosion of civil liberties in Norway on the other.

One cannot help but wonder, with so much resources put into ensuring this match happened, wouldn’t it have been easier to not have the game take place at all? Wouldn’t it have been better if UEFA and FIFA heeded the call from the UN, Amnesty and Palestine activists, and barred Israel from international football competitions?^[6][7]  Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate to treat Israel like apartheid South Africa or Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, and shut them out from international sports entirely?^[8][9] And considering how Israeli football hooligans behaved in Amsterdam in November 2024, where they shouted violent and genocidal chants about there being “No children left in Gaza”, attacking homes with Palestinian flags in the windows, vandalized a taxi, harassed and beat up Arab residents^[10][11].wouldn’t shutting Israel out of international sports be a protective measure for local residents as well?

And yet, it is the people who protest the granting of invitation, protection and passage to a state commiting genocide — the crime of all crimes, who are treated as criminals.

This is not an isolated incident of repression against pro-Palestinian protests in Norway. Police have previously used tear-gas on demonstrators protesting outside the Israeli embassy^[12]. And in April 2024, three activists were arrested for asking questions and shouting chants to a politician from the far-right Progress Party (FrP).

In the first trial, it was submitted by the prosecution that the purpose of the case against the three was to have a “chilling effect” against the solidarity movement for Palestine. After the activists first won a crushing victory in the district court, the state authorities chose to appeal. Once again, the state authorities suffered a defeat. It is liberating to see that we still have judges who have the courage and will to follow the law, even if the state authorities want it differently. This was clearly a result of strong support campgain that was carried out by Kampkomiteen and Bergen4Palestine^[13].

The police attack on the demonstration on 11 October, the 22 arrested, and the persecution of the 3 Palestinian activists are attacks on the right to demonstrate and the right to express oneself. This is part of a trend across the Western world, of persecution of the Palestine solidarity movement and attacks on the people’s democratic rights.

The court case against one of the 22 arrested during the football match is set for 3-5th of June. A support commitee^[14] has been established to stengthen solidarity with and defend the 22 Palestine activists arrested.

We call on the international community to stand in solidarity with the 22 arrested and in the continued fight against the persecution of Palestine activists, and for the defense of the people’s democratic rights.