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Italian fans disrespect Israeli national anthem during soccer game

Italian MP says fans who turned backs during Israel’s national anthem should be jailed, apologizes.

By World Israel News Staff

Some 50 Italian fans turned their backs while the Israeli national anthem was played before a match between the Israeli and Italian national soccer teams, then booed and jeered when a commentator said the word “Israel.”

The game, which was originally planned to be held in Israel but was played in Budapest, Hungary due to the ongoing war, ended with a 2-1 victory for Italy.

In a statement, the fans said that they had turned their backs in order to protest the “genocide committed by Israel in Gaza.”

They also held an Italian flag with the word “Freedom” on it, presumably as a reference to “Free Palestine.”

The incident roiled Italian media, with some outlets reporting that the group were not actually fans, but members of a right-wing group who had attended the match in order to create controversy.

“Those fans who turned their backs during Israel’s national anthem must have forgotten that six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis,” Italian Member of Parliament Alfredo Antoniozzi said in a public statement. “These are the same people who chant antisemitic slogans at [anti-Israel] demonstrations.”

The politician called “on the chairman of the [Italian] Football Association to identify those fans and pass their names on to the authorities. We will make sure to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law, and we will make an effort to even send them to prison. As an Italian, I feel an obligation and a need to apologize to Israel tonight.”

But another politician, former MP Alessandro Di Battista, praised the spectators’ behavior.

“The fans did the right thing. Israel has been occupying Palestine for decades, committing apartheid in the most blatant and ugly way,” Di Battista wrote on Facebook.

“Since the start of the war in Gaza, it has been responsible for brutal and cold-blooded murder. Israel is the worst terror state on the planet.”