Reinforced security for the France-Israel match: “A feeling of failure”, for the lawyer of the Jewish Observatory of France

4,000 police officers and gendarmes will be mobilized this Thursday evening at the Stade de France to ensure security on the sidelines of the meeting between the French football team and Israel. “It is the expression of a feeling of failure which generates worry and anger, and I wonder how we got there today in France.“, asked Corine Serfati, lawyer for the National Bureau of Vigilance against Anti-Semitism and the Jewish Observatory of France, on France Bleu Roussillon. The France-Israel match is considered high risk by the authorities due to the context international.
The lawyer asks: “There will be 4,000 police and gendarmes mobilized for 12,000 supporters. Why so much? Only because it’s Israelis and Jews who come to play. I do not fear this match, because the authorities have put in place an extremely important security arsenal, but zero risk does not exist (…). There's no reason to stop this football match“, estimated Corine Serfati, while the coordinator of La France Insoumise, Manuel Bompard, called for cancel the meeting in the name “crimes of the Israeli army“. “It is extremely shocking and worrying to see that anti-Semitism is taking place on football fields, including through the voice of elected representatives of the nation. A major principle which must govern these matches is that of neutrality“, replies the lawyer.

“Anti-Semitism now also in sport”

A year after the Hamas attack on Israel, “anti-Semitism has worsened in France. There is a worsening feeling of fear felt by the entire Jewish community in France and beyond. Anti-Semitism is is reinvented in a new, completely uninhibited form. It has invaded all areas of society: on social networks, in the street, in the metro, and now in sport.* There is a whole group of political figures who are hate mongers and who abuse their elected position to convey anti-Semitic discourse.“, affirms Corine Serfati. The lawyer indicates having filed complaint against LFI deputies Marie Messmer and Raphaël Arnault. She accuses them of having justified the violence committed in Amsterdam against Israeli supporters.
Corine Serfati now calls for “a revival of our society“in the face of this wave of anti-Semitism.”We need a very concrete action plan and an appropriate and firm judicial response, particularly against certain elected officials who are hate mongers..”