A huge “Free Palestine” banner was displayed by Paris Saint-Germain supporters on Wednesday evening, during the Champions League match against Atlético Madrid, eight days before the France-Israel meeting scheduled at the Stade de France.
The message, which covered an entire section of the stands, depicted the Dome of the Rock and included a map encompassing the entire Israeli territory, the West Bank and Gaza in the colors of the Palestinian keffiyeh. Another image showed a child wearing a jersey in the colors of the Lebanese flag, accompanied by the message “War on the ground, but peace in the world.”
PSG, owned by the Qatari government, quickly reacted by claiming to have not been informed of this initiative. “The Parc des Princes must remain a place of communion around a common passion for football and firmly opposes any political message in its stadium,” the club said in a statement.
This demonstration raises questions about the security of the next France-Israel match, scheduled for November 14 at the Stade de France. French authorities have confirmed that the meeting will take place with the public, in a sensitive context where France is home to the largest Jewish community in Europe and the largest Muslim population on the continent.
While Italy welcomed Israel to Udine under high security, Belgium chose to relocate its match to Debrecen, Hungary, as no local administration considered it possible to organize the match on its territory.
France
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