Punchy action. This Monday, around 25 pro-Palestine activists entered the premises of the French Football Federation (FFF) in Paris to protest against the holding of the France-Israel match at the Stade de France on November 14 as part of the League of Nations. This is the “Stop Genocide” collective.
While Israel and Hamas have been at war for more than a year, with an armed conflict on the territory of the Gaza Strip, these activists denounce violations of international law and demand the cancellation of the meeting.
Towards a meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m.
They stayed for about an hour. Around 5 p.m., the demonstrators were surrounded by around thirty CRS. They were then evacuated in a peaceful atmosphere. The principle of a meeting of two of their delegates with a leader of the FFF on Tuesday around 6 p.m. was approved.
Bruno Retailleau confirmed the continuation of the match
According to the media outlet Off Investigation, the FFF would have agreed to discuss with a spokesperson if the rest of the group leaves. A proposal initially refused by the group of demonstrators. “We will continue to make our demands known to the public who are there and who do not always know them,” says a spokesperson. “We are very calm, everyone is calm here. No one will be attacked, nothing will be damaged, but we would like to be able to explain the reasons why we are extremely outraged, scandalized, by the announcement of such a match, so that in other countries (…) the match against Israel was relocated or held behind closed doors.”
On November 1, on BFMTV, Bruno Retailleau confirmed that the match would continue at the Stade de France. In order to avoid incidents, the Minister of the Interior announced an adaptation of the security system and did not completely exclude the idea of a spectator gauge. But, unlike Belgium, which had opted for a relocation of its match against Israel to Debrecen (Hungary), France does not intend to give up on the Stade de France.
“I made a point with the police chief, Laurent Nuñezwho knows perfectly well what he is talking about”, detailed the Minister of the Interior on BFMTV. “I asked him the question of whether it could take place, which would be best, in the Stade de France where it is planned. Well we will, of course, adapt the security system because there will be risks. It will take place.”
Original article published on RMC Sport
