The cheering stands of the Palau Blaugrana, led by the Dracs, protested against Israel’s military action in Gaza at the beginning of the Euroleague match that pitted Barça against the Hebrew team Maccabi of Tel Aviv. The fans, located in the upper part of the venue, wore a black t-shirt to denounce the deaths in Palestine and after being silent for the first minute of the match, they shouted “no to genocide”, a proclamation to which other Blaugrana fans joined.
The reaction of this sector of the public responds, in large part, to the ban ordered by the Mossos d’Esquadra on displaying a banner with the motto “no to genocide” and any symbology or text related to the conflict in the Middle East. This decision is based on a state law in force since 2007 against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in the world of sports. On the other hand, on the outskirts of the pavilion, before and during the game, there was a demonstration in favor of the Palestinian people.
The measure clashes with the image seen in the match between Maccabi and Baskonia in Vitoria, where the public showed multiple flags in support of Palestine and a banner with the message “free Palestine.” On the other hand, the Israeli flag is allowed, as was seen in the match that pitted the Israelis against Valencia in La Fonteta.
The Dracs issued a statement before the match, which was later joined by Sang Culé Cor Català and the Penya Blaugrana Meritxell, in which they expressed their displeasure at the Mossos ban and the presence of the yellow team in the Euroleague. They conclude that Maccabi should have been expelled from the competition like the Russian teams after the invasion of Ukraine.
Furthermore, the animation group asked Europe to punch “the table” to stop the genocide of the people of Palestine. They also demanded that the Government of Catalonia “improve the criteria for freedom of expression with its police force.”
For its part, Maccabi has traveled to Barcelona with a strong police deployment around it, both Spanish and Israeli security forces, as it has been doing all season in the Euroleague. In fact, the Tel Aviv team plays its home games in the European competition in Belgrade.