Galatasaray fans unfurl anti-Zionist banners again at Champions League game

Galatasaray supporters again used a UEFA Champions League night to display anti-Israel banners, this time during Tuesday's home match against Stuttgart in Istanbul, Walla reported.

One banner read, in a translation from the Hebrew report, "Let humanity unite, let Zionism disappear." Others said "If Jerusalem is not free, the world is captive" and "Humanity lost its conscience in Gaza." The match was the fourth round of the league phase.

Images of the banners spread on social media and were widely covered in Turkey. Walla said the Turkish sports site A Spor praised the display under a headline about "support for Palestine from the Galatasaray stands." It wrote that fans had sent the world a message of support for the Palestinian people. The site Fotomaç ran a similar piece, saying the stands "did not forget Palestine."

Arutz Sheva noted that less than a month has passed since the last such display and that UEFA, European football's governing body, has so far stayed silent.

A pattern this season

Walla said this is not the first time. In October 2025, during a Champions League game against Bodo/Glimt, Galatasaray fans showed a giant display in the colors of the Palestinian flag with the words "Stop the genocide." Palestinian flags and anti-Israel banners also appeared at the club's match against Liverpool.

According to Walla, banners reading "Free Palestine" and "Humanity lost its conscience in Gaza" were hung before the match against Barcelona last month. That display prompted discussion in Europe about whether UEFA might sanction the club.

What UEFA's rules say

Article 16(2)(e) of UEFA's disciplinary regulations allows clubs to be punished for political, ideological or provocative messages unsuited to a sporting event, Walla noted. Not every political banner leads to automatic punishment, and each case is judged individually. Galatasaray has not been sanctioned over the banners in question.

The stakes go beyond one stadium. A club that plays on UEFA's biggest stage is, under UEFA's own rules, responsible for what its supporters display. Whether that rule is applied evenly, including when the target is Israel, is the question Israeli fans and officials are likely to keep asking.

The Israeli reports do not say whether UEFA has opened a case over the Stuttgart match, or whether Galatasaray or the Israel Football Association has commented.