Palestine march prevented at Switzerland-Israel basketball match
Keystone-SDA
Around 150 pro-Palestine activists tried to force their way into Switzerland’s match against Israel at the U-19 World Cup in Lausanne on Saturday evening. The police used pepper spray to push them back.
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The demonstrators gathered in front of the Vaud arena from 6:30pm. As the start of the match approached, they began to push against the security barriers. The barriers were guarded by police in riot gear.
The demonstrators tried to break through several times, which the police reportedly repelled with pepper spray. Among other things, the demonstrators chanted “No genocide in Lausanne” and “Switzerland is an accomplice”. They also shouted abuse at matchgoers as they entered the arena.
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Several organisations had called for the demonstration beforehand. They called for Israel to be excluded from the under-19 basketball world championship and from all sporting events in general. Israel’s next game is against Jordan on Sunday.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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