UEFA won’t punish Paris Saint-Germain for its ultras group display of a massive banner with the words "Free Palestine" in the stands of Parc des Princes before Wednesday's 2-1 loss to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League — a decision that has sparked controversy.
UEFA explained its decision to Reuters saying, "There will ... be no disciplinary case because the banner that was unfurled cannot be in this case considered provocative or insulting," — a decision many find mistaken and infuriating.
The European Jewish Association (EJA) sent a charged letter to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, saying that any banner denying Israel's existence is antisemitic. "The banner isn’t a call for liberation. It’s a call for the elimination of Jews."
The banner, stretched across the ultras’ section, depicted the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem on a bleeding Palestinian flag, accompanied by an armed Palestinian, a girl draped in a Lebanese flag and a map of Israel colored in a keffiyeh pattern.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) responded to the incident, prior to UEFA’s statement, explaining they were not aware of "any plans to display such a message."
"Paris St Germain recalls that the Parc des Princes is — and must remain — a place of communion around a common passion for soccer and firmly opposes any message of a political nature in its stadium,” the soccer club added.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau on Thursday criticized the unveiling of the giant banner at the soccer match, calling it "unacceptable."
EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, whose organization works against antisemitism extensively, wrote to Ceferin urging disciplinary action against PSG and criticizing the UEFA spokesperson’s claim that the banner was neither offensive nor provocative.
"If someone had displayed a large banner of Ukraine beneath a Russian flag, would that not be considered offensive or provocative, Mr. President? Or what about Slovenia under the Italian or Austrian flag? The answer is clear,” he wrote.
“Denying Israel’s right to exist, especially during the ongoing war and following the largest pogrom against Jews since World War II, not only offends millions of Jewish and Israeli football fans around the world but is openly antisemitic and hostile.”
“UEFA must act today to prevent others from feeling emboldened to do the same. Jewish communities everywhere, especially in Europe, are already living under daily threats due to the hate expressed in such banners,” Margolin concluded.
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