Beyond the Headlines: The Anti-Israeli Campaign in Football and Its Implications

Santrauka

This paper analyzes the anti-Israeli campaign within international football, which escalated following the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and Israel's subsequent military actions in Gaza. The study examines the content of these messages and their different implications for international club and national team contexts. It specifically focuses on the “Show Israel the Red Card” campaign, launched by Celtic fans, and the communications from the Norway Football Federation in the context of a World Cup qualification game between the national teams of Norway and Israel. An analysis reveals that specific messages in club-level campaigns contain clear antisemitic patterns. Consequently, the display of some banners goes beyond what can be justified by fans' political stances or their solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Norway's case illustrates the asymmetrical advocacy pursued to ban Israel from international football. The research underlines that the logic of these campaigns and their relevant communication should be based on a prior analysis of the chronological sequence of events and their causal relationships. Otherwise, inflammatory rhetoric creates a toxic atmosphere off the pitch.