Less than a day before the opening ceremony of the 2024 summer Olympics om Friday, there were competing demonstrations in Paris against and in support of Israel.
The several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanted, among other things: "Fascist and terrorist Israel", "Israel is occupying, Emmanuel Macron will wake up", "Free Palestine" and "Flee from Paris."At the same time, several dozen pro-Israel demonstrators waved a sign that read "Antisemitism has no place in the Olympics."
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Pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Place de la République in Paris
(Photo: Oz Moalem)
3 View gallery
Pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Place de la République in Paris
(Photo: Oz Moalem)
On Wednesday, during the Israeli soccer team's first Olympic match in 48 years, held against Mali, fans waved Palestinian flags and booed during the playing of Israel's national anthem. In addition, quite a few Moroccan and Palestinian fans, who also came to the stadium, entered the Israeli stands and there was a violent confrontation between the parties .
One of the pro-Israel demonstrators, Jacqueline Dufo, said: "I'm not Jewish, but they can't use this conflict to show antisemitism and ask to remove Israel from the Olympics. It won't happen."
The Palestine Olympic Committee asked the Olympic committee to exclude Israel from the Games, a request to which Iran also joined. But the chairman of the Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, made it clear to them that this would not happen. An official statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that "Israeli athletes do not deserve to be present at the Paris Olympics because of their war against the innocents in Gaza."
Jibril Rajoub, chairman of the Palestinian delegation to the Olympics said: "Israel has no right to appear in the Olympics. Israel has lost its human and sporting values. She has no place in the Olympics, she is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel should be treated the same way South Africa was treated during the Apartheid era." Rajoub also said that he hopes to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron so that he will "recognize a Palestinian state."