Anti-Israel Protests Mar Austria Soccer Match

By Reuters July 24, 2014

Protesters against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza attacked Israeli soccer players at a friendly match in Austria on Wednesday evening, stopping play five minutes before the end.

Salzburg police said on Thursday around 20 people with flags and placards, mostly Austrians of Turkish origin, stormed the pitch shouting slogans about the Gaza conflict, in which more than 700 Palestinians have been killed and thousands displaced.

Police said there were clashes with the players from Maccabi Haifa, which was playing a friendly against Lille in Bischofshofen in Salzburg province, but no one was injured and police were quickly able to calm the situation.

The provincial office for the protection of the constitution is investigating.

Austria’s chancellor condemned the violence.

“Guests who are staying in Austria have the right to do so in safety, regardless of their origin and religion,” Werner Faymann said in a statement.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO