Watch: Protesters show Israeli rugby team the red card in match against Malta

Updated 3.04pm with Malta Rugby president comments 

Demonstrators gave the Israeli national rugby team the red card on Saturday afternoon as it faced off against Malta’s national team.

Activists from several Maltese organisations, including Moviment Graffitti, Ġustizzja għall-Palestina, Watermelon Warriors, Lebanese Advocates and Youth for Palestine, gathered to protest Israel’s participation in the international match.

Around 40 demonstrators raised red cards in unison as the Israeli national anthem began, in a symbolic gesture referencing the rules of the game; in Rugby Union, a referee can give a permanent red card for foul play when considered deliberate and dangerous.

They held up Palestinian flags – that they had managed to get past stringent security checks when entering the grounds – and chanted "Free, free Palestine" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," words frequently chanted by pro-Palestinian groups.

Activists, surrounded by a heavy police presence, also chanted, "Boycott Israel".

In a statement, Moviment Graffitti said: “Sport is inherently political. National teams represent the state and are often used to build cultural capital and international legitimacy".

It continued, “This was clearly acknowledged when Russia was expelled from all European sporting bodies, including the rugby union, following its invasion of Ukraine.”

Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Rugby Europe banned Russian teams from taking part in international competitions. The protesters are now calling for similar action to be taken against Israel in response to its war in Gaza.

“Israel engages in sports-washing – using cultural institutions, including sports, to mask its brutal oppression of the Palestinian people,” the demonstrators said.

They argued sport is one of the areas where “the apartheid policies of the Israeli state are most visible.” While Israeli athletes participate freely in international competitions, “Palestinian athletes under occupation are routinely denied travel permits, imprisoned, maimed or even killed.”

Protestors maintained activities throughout the start of the match. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.

On Thursday, Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 31 people, including children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians.

Agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP that women and children were among the dead, and six people remained missing after the strike on Dar al-Arqam School in the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City. “One of the missing was a pregnant woman who was expecting twins,” he said.

In its statement, Moviment Graffitti added that Israel's actions had been made possible in part due to the complicity of the West. "The only morally defensible course of action is to isolate the genocidal state of Israel – including by expelling it from international sporting organisations", the organisation said.

Speaking to Times of Malta as protesters and supporters alike peacefully enjoyed a drink at half time, Malta Rugby president Robert Portelli said: "This is rugby - and sports; sitting next to each other. It's the first step towards finding peace".

He continued: "Focusing on the good as opposed to the bad. What unites is stronger than what divides us, and sports unites us all."

When protesters had previously called for a boycott of the rugby game, Portelli had defended the fixture.

“Sport should remain a tool for peace. It provides an opportunity to unite people rather than divide them,” he had said ahead of the game.

Portelli added that boycotts, protests and exclusions “move people further away from peace and from the core values that sport embodies”.