With thousands of extra security personnel deployed on the streets of Paris and a \u201cdouble ring\u201d of security thrown around the national stadium, France is taking no chances with Thursday\u2019s soccer match with Israel. <\/p>\n
After shocking scenes of violence in Amsterdam last week \u2013 with accusations of an organized \u201chunting\u201d of Jews following days of unrest with fans of visiting Israeli club Maccabi-Tel Aviv \u2013 the French capital is determined to avoid a repeat. <\/p>\n
Some 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed to police the game, with about 2,500 of those officers around the stadium itself, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said. <\/p>\n
The elite RAID police unit will be present inside the ground, according to France\u2019s interior minister, and an \u201canti-terrorist security perimeter\u201d will ensure two separate ID checks and searches for attendees. <\/p>\n
This fixture comes just days after several nights of clashes in Amsterdam, when at least five people were treated in hospital and dozens were arrested after Israeli fans were attacked following Maccabi Tel Aviv\u2019s 5-0 defeat to Ajax in violence condemned as antisemitic by authorities in the Netherlands and Israel. <\/p>\n
Tensions had been rising ahead of last Thursday\u2019s match in the Dutch capital. Multiple social media videos showed Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab slurs, praising Israeli military attacks in Gaza and yelling \u201cf**k the Arabs.\u201d Maccabi supporters also tore down flags, vandalized a taxi and set a Palestinian flag on fire, Amsterdam police said. <\/p>\n
This Thursday\u2019s UEFA Nations League match between France and Israel will take place in the Stade de France, the centerpiece of Paris\u2019 2024 Olympic Games, and about 20,000 fans are expected to attend, according to Nunez. The police chief added that there was low demand for tickets to the game in a stadium that can accommodate some 80,000 spectators. <\/p>\n
The supporters of the Israeli national side will likely differ from the fans at Amsterdam\u2019s Maccabi match \u2013 some of whom have a reputation for hooliganism and violence. <\/p>\n
On Sunday, Israel specifically warned its citizens against attending the match over fears for their safety. Even so, officials are determined for the game to go ahead. <\/p>\n
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has refused to cancel or move the match, telling parliamentarians that doing so would amount to \u201cgiving in to sowers of hate.\u201d Instead, the country\u2019s flagship stadium will be turned into a veritable fortress. <\/p>\n
But the match won\u2019t only be notable for its security. <\/p>\n
Macron will be joined by his prime minister and two former presidents, Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, in a rare display of unity. <\/p>\n
This game comes at a particularly tense time for politics and sport in France. <\/p>\n
Last week, Retailleau demanded answers from Paris Saint-Germain, the city\u2019s main club, after fans unfurled an enormous \u201cFree Palestine\u201d display in the stands at a Champions League tie. <\/p>\n
Following the match, Retailleau posted on X that clubs should be wary that, \u201cpolitics does not come to damage sport, which must always remain a force for unity,\u201d promising in a later radio interview that \u201cnothing was off the table\u201d in terms of sanctions against clubs that refuse to toe the line and police \u201cpolitical\u201d banners. <\/p>\n
The minister set an aggressive tone in his first months in office and his response to the Amsterdam attacks was no different. In a move unprecedented even since the Hamas-led October 7 assault on Israel last year and the ongoing war in Gaza that followed, Retailleau called for prosecutors to investigate a far-left lawmaker\u2019s post about the violence in the Dutch capital. <\/p>\n
Marie Mesmeur had posted that the Israelis attacked in Amsterdam, \u201cwere not lynched because they were Jewish, but because they were racist and supported genocide.\u201d <\/p>\n
The official French response could not be more different. <\/p>\n
Macron said the incidents, \u201crecalled the most shameful hours of history,\u201d in sentiments mirrored by top French officials in a flurry of X posts. <\/p>\n
France \u2013 like much of Europe and North America \u2013 has grappled with spiking antisemitism in recent years, which has only been accentuated by the October 7 attacks and Israel\u2019s bloody campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon. <\/p>\n
In France specifically, less than 1% of the French population is Jewish, yet Jews are victims of 57% of all racist and antireligious attacks in the country, Retailleau told lawmakers on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
France is home to Europe\u2019s largest Jewish population and one of the continent\u2019s biggest Muslim populations. In recent years, French far-right politicians have clamored to claim the moral high ground around antisemitism. <\/p>\n
All this comes amid a diplomatic spat between Paris and Tel Aviv. Just this week, the Israeli ambassador in Paris was summoned to the French foreign ministry after two French policemen were briefly detained in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem. <\/p>\n
France\u2019s government has attempted to tread a difficult path between responding to Hamas\u2019 attacks on Israel and growing antisemitism at home, and outrage at Israel\u2019s destruction in Gaza and elsewhere. Yet, in the light of recent events in Amsterdam, it is keen to show its commitment to protecting French Jews: Thursday\u2019s match offers the perfect opportunity. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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