The serious diplomatic crisis between France and Israel due to the wars in Gaza and Lebanon has almost completely engulfed today’s soccer duel between the two national teams. The Nations League match, which has required the deployment of more than 4,000 police officers, will be played in a half-empty Stade de France, something unprecedented. The 20,000 spectators with tickets will fill only a quarter of the capacity. According to Le Parisian only between 100 and 150 fans have dared to travel from Israel, despite their Government’s recommendation that they not attend the match.
For the French authorities, keeping the match in the planned stadium, the same one that hosted the Olympic Games, and not taking it to another country, as the Belgians did, was a matter of principle and national pride. This also explains why the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, as well as other political leaders, will attend. The aim is to give an image of normality in the face of fears that the sporting event could lead to anti-Semitic actions, such as those that happened in Amsterdam last week, or something more serious.
Before the match, a demonstration is called under the slogan “Don’t play with genocide/No to the France-Israel match”
The alert is maximum because the geopolitical context is explosive. Three hours before the match, a demonstration is called – barring a last-minute ban – in front of the Saint-Denis Town Hall, 1.5 kilometers from the stadium, to protest against the match. The event is organized by La Francia Insumisa (LFI, radical left) and pro-Palestinian associations, under the motto “Don’t play with genocide/No to the France-Israel party.” Another demonstration will call for the release of the Lebanese communist militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, imprisoned for more than forty years, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of an American diplomat and another Israeli in Paris in 1982.
The Israeli team has been in France since Tuesday. He is housed and trained in facilities completely armored by special police forces in the Oise Valley department, north of the capital.
Protesters against the “Israel is Forever” gala organized by the extreme right in Paris this Wednesday
In addition to the diplomatic storm that has fallen on the party, there is also the question of the non-call of the captain of the blue forward Kylian Mbappé, who is going through a delicate sporting moment at Real Madrid and, on a personal level, is being investigated in Sweden for an alleged rape.
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