AA / Paris / Ümit Dönmez
The Champions League basketball match between French club Nanterre 92 and its Israeli counterpart Hapoel Holon was marked Wednesday evening by pro-Palestinian spectator action at the Palais des Sports in Nanterre. The latter crossed the field with Palestinian flags, drawing attention to the situation in Palestine. The interruption lasted only a few minutes, without the players having to leave the field, according to the police headquarters.
After their time on the field, the spectators returned to the stands, where tense exchanges took place with certain Israeli supporters.
The police calmed the situation and made seven arrests. Palestinian flags were also displayed in the stands, supporting the message of the activists present.
This mobilization comes after several days of tensions surrounding the holding of this match.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Cergy-Pontoise administrative court had suspended the municipal decree which provided for a closed session, thus responding to a request from the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture.
In a press release, the mayor of Nanterre, Raphaël Adam, explained that he had requested a closed session “as a security measure”, while specifying that this decision was suspended by the courts. “The State will take responsibility for security in Nanterre this evening,” he added.
These events take place in a context marked by significant mobilization in recent days. On Saturday, December 14, several hundred people demonstrated at the call of organizations such as EuroPalestine to denounce what they perceive as Israel’s exploitation of sport. A statement from these organizations describes the Hapoel Holon club as a “symbol of the normalization of the Israeli occupation” of the Gaza Strip.
As a reminder, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, triggered on October 7, 2023 following an attack by the Palestinian movement, led to an Israeli declaration of war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
This response, marked by air strikes and a ground invasion, caused a catastrophic human toll: more than 45,000 dead, the majority of them children and women, as well as more than 105,000 injured. The massive destruction left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
At the same time, South Africa has filed a complaint against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over accusations of genocide in Gaza.
Last month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Strip. Gaza.
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