Fears in Paris over 'high risk' France-Israel football match
France is preparing to host Israel's national football team in a match deemed "high risk" by the authorities after last week’s violence in Amsterdam.
Violence erupted in the Dutch capital on Thursday in the run-up to Maccabi Tel Aviv's five-goal defeat to Ajax.
According to Dutch locals and police, Maccabi fans had torn down Palestinian flags on private property, threatened locals and threw projectiles at passers by.
They were also filmed singing racist chants against Arabs, leading to a response by locals, including members of the Moroccan community, in which dozens of Maccabi fans were injured, including at least one fan who was forced into a canal.
Dutch police reported the arrest of around 60 people and Israel organised emergency flights to repatriate its citizens.
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Despite eyewitness accounts detailing a series of provocations by Maccabi fans, western media outlets and politicians have characterised the events as an antisemitic pogrom.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced he would attend the Uefa Nations League event, scheduled on Thursday at the Stade de France near Paris, to "send a message of fraternity and solidarity after the intolerable antisemitic acts that followed the match in Amsterdam".
On Friday, Macron "firmly condemned" the "violence against Israeli citizens in Amsterdam", which he said recalled "the most shameful hours in history".
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced that the match scheduled on 14 November would not be relocated, after several calls to follow the example of the October game between the two teams, which was played in Budapest.
"Some are calling for the France-Israel match to be relocated. I do not accept it: France is not backing down because that would amount to giving up in the face of threats of violence and antisemitism," Retailleau posted on X.
Neither Macron or Retailleau made mention of the racist chanting against Arabs, or violence on the part of the Maccabi fans.
Mobilisation
France announced exceptional measures to ensure security at the upcoming match, with the mobilisation of a total of 4,000 police officers and gendarmes.
Such a deployment corresponds to an "extremely reinforced system" and is "very unusual" for an international match, the Paris prefect of police Laurent Nunez said on Sunday.
To prevent an invasion of the pitch, the first rows of the stands will be closed off. Mobile force units and plainclothes police officers will operate in the stands, while the Raid, the elite unit of the national police, will be responsible for the security of the Israeli team.
Palestinian flags will also be banned from the stadium.
"There will be no Palestinian flag at the Stade de France. There will only be French or Israeli flags, and messages of support for the teams," Nunez said.
"In stadiums there can be no political messages, it's the law," he added.
The decision comes after the unfurling of a huge banner reading “Free Palestine” by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fans last Wednesday before the club's Uefa Champions League match against Atletico Madrid.
The French interior minister condemned the banner, arguing that such displays “do not belong in stadiums” and threatened the "unity" of sport.
Meanwhile, the match between France and Israel has been denounced as "sportswashing" by pro-Palestine activists.
A petition has been circulating for several weeks calling for the cancellation of the France-Israel match and the exclusion of Israel from all international sports competitions, denouncing "the sportswashing of crimes against humanity."
Fifa has repeatedly deferred its decision on a request to suspend the Israeli Football Union. The petition accused the world football governing body of double standard and complicity in Israel’s war crimes.
"Although Fifa has sanctioned and sanctions the non-respect of this commitment [to protect human rights] by other countries - South Africa from 1962 to 1992 because of its apartheid policy and more recently Russia and Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine - it allows Israel to flout international humanitarian law with complete impunity," the petition reads.
🇫🇷🇮🇱⚽️ FLASH | « Génocide à Gaza, on peut pas s’en foutre ! ». Des militants pro-Palestine occupent le siège de la FFF pour faire annuler le match France - Israël qui doit se tenir le 14.
— Cerfia (@CerfiaFR) November 4, 2024
pic.twitter.com/3B88Dnilzl
Translation: "'Genocide in Gaza, we can't ignore it!’'Pro-Palestine activists occupy the [French football union] headquarters to cancel the France-Israel match scheduled to take place on [Thursday].'"
The call to cancel the match has been relayed by some French MPs from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party, such as Manuel Bompard, who asked for "the cancellation of the France-Israel match in view of the crimes committed by the Israeli army".
On social media, some users have also denounced "a double standard" since demonstrations of support for other causes, such as Ukraine after its invasion by Russia, are allowed in the country's sports arenas.
Since Israel started its devastating war on Gaza last year following the Hamas-led attack on 7 October, activists in France have denounced the increased repression of pro-Palestine voices, with hundreds of investigations being launched into remarks about the Israel-Palestine conflict under the so-called "apologetics for terrorism" charge.
Most recently, Retailleau announced on Saturday that he took legal actions against an LFI parliamentarian, Marie Mesmeur, for "apologetics for crime" after she wrote on X that in Amsterdam, the Israeli hooligans "were not lynched because they were Jewish, but because they were racist and supported genocide."
Low expected attendance
Amidst increased security concerns and a tense geopolitical context, attendance for the France-Israel match on Thursday is expected to be historically low.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 supporters are expected, marking the lowest number ever recorded at the Stade de France for a French national team game.
Some have attributed the low attendance to calls for the match to be boycotted.
LFI MP Thomas Portes wrote on Facebook that "the people of France refuse to participate in this operation to whitewash a government that is committing genocide through sport".
"Sport will never be neutral. Israel must be ostracised by nations to stop the planned killing of the Palestinian people, and sports competitions are no exception," he added.
Security concerns also explain the low numbers. On Sunday, the Israeli authorities called on supporters to avoid attending the match.
The tension ahead of the event is all the greater as Betar, an international right-wing Jewish group, announced on Sunday that it was planning a rally in Paris on the eve of the match to fight antisemitism.
The rally will take place on the same day as the "Israel Forever" gala, an event in support of Israel organised in the French capital by several far-right figures.
French non-governmental organisations, unions and left-wing parties have denounced the gala, as it will include far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich and lawyer Nili Kupfer-Naouri, both known for their calls for genocide in Gaza.
The French administrative court however ruled on Saturday that there was no reason to ban the gala.
To justify his refusal to cancel the event, the police prefect said on Sunday that the gala brings together "barely a few hundred people" and "is held every year," stating that the Israeli minister would not be making the trip.
"I understand that in the end, he will not be there," he said.
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