There has been an initiative on social media for the spontaneous singing of Hatikva - Israel's national anthem, when Maccabi Haifa takes the field at Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, Thursday evening for its game against RC Strasbourg Alsace in the return of their Europa League qualifying match.
Before last week's 3-1 loss to Strasbourg, police banned the waving of Israeli flags in the city until hours before the game and three Haifa fans were attacked just for being Israeli. Police are investigating if the light wounding of two tourists in a Haifa fight on Wednesday evening was an act of revenge.