Fans clash at Nations League match between France and Israel – The Irish Times

During a tense match between Israel’s men’s soccer team and France, a brawl broke out in the stands of the Stade de France involving Israeli fans, but an increased police presence prevented a repeat of serious violence in Amsterdam.

The game was deemed “high risk” after hooliganism and anti-Semitism were reported in the Netherlands before and after last week’s Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Some in the crowd loudly booed the Israeli national anthem before the tie, and within ten minutes of kick-off a small number of fans clashed in the stadium’s high stands.

The fight was quickly settled by the guards, and special forces were seen at the edge of the stands, ready to intervene. Paris authorities were on high alert. The match ended 0-0.

Emmanuel Macron, who attended the game with his interior minister Bruno Retailo and Prime Minister Michel Barnier in solidarity with victims of anti-Semitism, said France would not accept discrimination. Former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy were also in the stands to watch the goalless draw.

Macron told French television channel BFMTV: “We will not succumb to anti-Semitism anywhere, and violence, including in the French Republic, will never win, nor will intimidation.”

The Stade de France drew fewer than 20,000 people for a UEFA Nations League match, making it the lowest attendance at the 80,000-capacity stadium.

Patrick Bensimon, co-founder of the non-governmental organization Diaspora Defense Forces, said he arranged for 600 Israeli fans to be transported to the stadium in chartered buses escorted by police.

He said: “Eighty percent of the people here did not want to go to the Stade de France. Some were afraid, especially after the events in Amsterdam.”

One Israeli fan, carrying an Israeli flag, told reporters outside the stadium before the game: “We want to show that we fear no one but God.”

His friend said “we shouldn’t mix sports and politics” and that they hoped “there would be no fighting outside the stadium”.

Despite the low attendance, around 4,000 police officers were on the streets around the stadium, along with 1,600 security personnel.

The Israeli government has ordered its citizens to avoid the game amid heightened tensions.

A pro-Palestinian demonstration about 2 km from the stadium near the Front Populaire metro station in Saint-Denis gathered several hundred protesters. They moved towards the stadium, but were turned away by riot police.

Eric Coquerel, MP for Seine-Saint-Denis and a member of the left-wing La France Insoumise party, said: “We are living in a schizophrenic moment. On the one hand, international institutions recognize the existence of genocide in Gaza. On the other hand, we have the French government reluctantly agreeing to call for a ceasefire.

“This match, which everyone knows is second-rate, is attended by President Macron, Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande. How do you expect Benjamin Netanyahu to hear any message other than, “You can keep destroying Gaza”? France looks the other way.

“This is a pure scandal. Let’s imagine a match between France and Russia. Would Emmanuel Macron honor this meeting with his presence? Obviously not. Whereas in both cases there are two aggressor countries.”

French police chief Laurent Nunes said his officers had studied the events in the Netherlands. “We learned that we need to be present in the public space, including away from the stadium,” he said.

Tickets went on sale at 11am on Thursday and fans were warned that they were not allowed to carry bags into the stadium. A wide security perimeter was created around the venue.

Only the French and Israeli national flags were allowed on the ground and fans were thoroughly searched as they passed through checkpoints outside the stadium in northern Paris.

Concerns arose after police clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters Wednesday night outside a gala event in Paris raising funds for the Israeli military. Israel’s controversial far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was scheduled to speak but later canceled.

Police confronted dozens of demonstrators waving Palestinian flags and lighting fireworks near Saint-Lazare station, and tear gas was reportedly used as police tried to control the crowd.

Amid international condemnation of the violence in Amsterdam last week, a report released by the city’s mayor, Femke Halsema, said it was caused by a “toxic cocktail of anti-Semitism, football hooliganism and anger over war in Palestine, Israel and elsewhere. of the Middle East”. – Guardian