Thursday’s game was held in a tense atmosphere and under exceptional security measures a week after violent clashes broke out in Amsterdam between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli football fans.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in a suburb north of Paris on Thursday night, just two kilometres away from the Stade de France, where a controversial UEFA Nations League match between France and Israel took place.
Many at the protest in Saint-Denis denounced France for hosting the game and expressed their anger that President Emmanuel Macron and other prominent politicians attended.
“Every evening, I walk around listening to Palestinian songs and I cry for all those people who are being killed. And what is our President doing? He comes to support the Israeli team. It’s crazy!” said Maria, a Lebanese activist.
Standing next to her, Rita couldn’t hold back her tears.
“It’s horrifying seeing what goes on in Gaza every day,” she told Euronews.
“The French government is showing that it is deliberately complicit in the atrocities committed by the Israeli government. And history will not forget this.”
The protest took place on the same day a special UN committee likened Israel’s methods of warfare in Gaza to genocide. Many of the posters and banners at the demonstration referred to that report.
“The France-Israel match is a scandal. What Israel is doing is a genocide. We’re here to denounce it, we’re not going to keep quiet,” explained Samy, a film director, who was handing out pro-Palestinian stickers to attendees.
Paris ramps up security
A heavy police presence including drones and helicopters prevented any major protests or fights close to the stadium.
However, inside the stadium, a scuffle broke out in the stands between rival supporters. Some football fans booed and whistled during Israel’s national anthem.
Due to security concerns and many fans boycotting the game, only 13,000 tickets were sold – the lowest attendance for any home match in the history of the French national team.
Tensions were already high in the French capital after protests erupted on Wednesday night against a gala organised to raise funds for the Israeli military.
But France did not want to take any chances with security after violent clashes erupted between Israeli football fans and pro-Palestinian supporters in Amsterdam last week.
Video circulating online on 7 November ahead of an Ajax v. Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa League game showed a large crowd of Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slurs on their way to the stadium.
Afterward, youths on scooters and on foot went in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them in attacks apparently inspired by calls on social media to target Jewish people.
Five people were treated at hospitals and dozens were arrested after the attacks, which were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Amsterdam, Israel and across Europe.
