Tunisia police arrest pro-Palestine activist for WC game protest

A pro-Palestine activist was arrested Monday in Tunisia after storming a World Cup qualifier match and tearing down a banner promoting a company accused of supporting the Israeli occupation.  

On 24 March, Mohamed Amin Touihri, 23, ran onto the pitch during Tunisia’s World Cup 2026 qualifier against Malawi, waving a Palestinian flag. After raising the flag to cheers from the Tunisian football fans—known for their pro-Palestine chants—he tore down an advertising banner for Carrefour, the French retail giant accused by activists of allegedly backing Israel’s occupation.  

Carrefour has long been named on the official Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement’s lists due to its alleged support for Israel. 

According to the main BDS platform, one of the retail group’s branches in Israel provided personal packages to Israeli soldiers during the ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mainly civilians. 

BDS also says that in 2022, Carrefour announced a franchise partnership with two companies “active in the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise.”

The arrest of Touihri added to the outrage, particularly after footage emerged showing security forces tackling him aggressively. 

Many Tunisians saw this as emblematic of a political system more focused on policing activism than addressing public sentiment. 

By Tuesday, Touihri was referred to the public prosecutor, facing charges of trespassing, causing disorder, and inciting unrest. He was released later the same day, awaiting further legal proceedings.  

“I was beaten up so much, but nothing compared to what the Palestinian people are enduring,” he told reporters after his release, urging fellow Tunisians to protest companies that are complicit with Israel.  

Touihri’s case quickly became a rallying point for many. 

Outside the Ben Arous police station, where he was held, activists and supporters gathered in solidarity. Videos of the incident spread rapidly online, sparking calls for a nationwide protest and boycott. 

The ultra group of EGS Gafsa, one of the largest in the country, was quick to support the activist and launch a petition to end the Tunisian Football Federation’s (FTF) sponsorship deal with Carrefour. The French retail company has supported the Tunisian national football team for over 12 years.  

Meanwhile, members of the Tunisian Campaign for the Boycott of Carrefour, of which Touihri is a member, and other pro-Palestine activists stormed a Carrefour store in Tunis on Tuesday. 

They scrawled messages of anti-normalisation and the name of the 23-year-old activist on the store’s aisles before leaving without incident.  

“You won’t have any excuses to tell your children when they ask you why you work here”, Jawaher Channa, a pro-Palestinian activist, addressed the workers at a Carrefour store in neighbourhood El-Karam in Tunis.

Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, Carrefour has permanently closed stores in Oman and Jordan. While the company did not specify the reason, the move coincided with the intensifying boycott campaign against it.  

This is not the first time the pro-Palestine movement in Tunisia has staged such actions. 

Last week, activists stormed the headquarters of Maersk, a company accused of shipping weapons to Israel amid the Gaza war. 

The protest ended in violence, with injuries on both sides, and a legal case against the activists for trespassing is still pending.  

Following President Kais Saied’s re-election last October, police have intensified their crackdown on pro-Palestine groups, arresting at least five activists—three of whom are being investigated on terrorism charges.

For many, Touihri’s case was a statement against what they see as creeping normalisation with Israel—a stance long resisted by Tunisia’s pro-Palestine activists.  

Tunisia has no official ties with Israel, but since the Gaza war began, policymakers and activists have pushed to criminalise normalisation with Israel.

A draft law to do so, widely expected to pass in the Tunisian parliament, was halted in November 2023 by President Kais Saied, who argued it was necessary to “preserve the country’s interests.”  

Since 2023, several reports have suggested a potential normalisation deal between Tel Aviv and Tunis as Israel seeks to expand its influence in North Africa.

However, President Kais Saied has repeatedly ruled out any possibility of establishing diplomatic ties with Israel.