The football match between France and Israel took place Thursday evening without incident, apart from a brief crowd movement accompanied by an exchange of blows in a stand at the Stade de France, where an exceptional security system had been put in place after last week's violence in Amsterdam.
The supporters left the Saint-Denis stadium peacefully a little before 11 p.m., according to AFP journalists.
A brief crowd movement occurred in an upper stand during the first period, leading to the intervention of stewards, noted an AFP journalist.
In images obtained by AFP, spectators can be seen exchanging blows, including one carrying an Israeli flag on his shoulders.
A source close to the matter told AFP about “provocations from people suspected of belonging to the far-left movement and PSG supporters (Auteuil tribune)”.
“There was a crowd movement and PSG supporters were chased,” said this source, adding: “blows were exchanged and a person, suspected of being pro-Israeli, was arrested.” There were “no” injuries, according to the same source.
“We didn’t really understand what happened,” says Kévin Da Silva, 28, who left the stadium before the end of the match, after experiencing the “worst atmosphere” he had ever known. for a French team match.
“It was very good,” said Benjamin, 22, with a kippah on his head as he left the stadium. “There were many of us (as supporters of Israel, editor’s note) despite what happened in Amsterdam, despite the fear and despite the rumors on the networks.”
In the south stand, some supporters took out Palestinian flags, applauded by others, before security intervened to remove them, noted an AFP journalist. Only French and Israeli flags were allowed. Palestinian banners, as well as messages of a political nature, were prohibited.
The Palestinian flags “were immediately confiscated” and the people who displayed them “verbalized due to the prefectural decree” prohibiting them, said the source close to the matter.
– Historically low attendance –
The sporting stakes of this meeting in the Paris suburbs counting for the League of Nations were largely eclipsed by the geopolitical context.
Emmanuel Macron, who attended the meeting, assured his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the “mobilization of France” for a “good progress of the match”.
Securing the match had become a major problem as Europe faces a rise in racist and anti-Semitic acts since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza in October 2023.
A total of 4,000 police officers and gendarmes had been deployed around and, rarely, in the Saint-Denis stadium, as well as on public transport and throughout Paris.
Elisa, a 23-year-old from Lille who came with her family, said she understood the omnipresence of the police when she arrived at the stadium, even deeming it desirable “because there is a risk that violent people will disrupt the match.”
The Saint-Denis enclosure (80,000 seats) sounded a little hollow since only 16,611 spectators were present, the lowest attendance in history for a French team match at the Stade de France.
“Sport has always been political. That’s why the stadium was empty this evening, because people are boycotting Israel,” says Jad Charaf, a 19-year-old Franco-Lebanese, exhibiting at the exit of the stadium his white T-shirt on which the slogans “Free Palestine” and “Free Lebanon” are written.
Fears of excesses were reinforced after the serious incidents which followed the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, on the night of November 7 to 8 in Amsterdam.
– “We are here for Israel” –
Israeli supporters were then chased and beaten in the streets of the Dutch capital, attacks which left 20 to 30 injured and sparked outrage in many Western capitals. Before the match, Maccabi fans chanted anti-Arab chants and burned a Palestinian flag in the central Dam Square.
The French authorities have categorically ruled out giving up the match, or relocating it as Belgium did in September.
Israel, for its part, called on its fans on Sunday to avoid going to the Stade de France. And the head of Israeli diplomacy Gideon Saar asked the French authorities on Thursday evening to ensure “the security of Israeli supporters”.
Led by an association for the defense of the Jewish community, more than 600 people went to the stadium in around ten chartered buses and placed under high police security.
In addition to the police, around 1,600 security agents were mobilized at the Stade de France and the RAID ensured the security of the Israel team.
The authorities had planned to secure places of worship and Jewish communities in Paris and nearby suburbs, according to a note from the police headquarters (PP) consulted by AFP.
In Saint-Denis, Place du Front populaire, several hundred people gathered Thursday evening to denounce the holding of the match.
