“Anti-Semitic protesters” shouted “Heil Hitler” and appeared to give the Nazi salute during the playing of the Israeli national anthem before a soccer match between Israel and Paraguay at the Paris Olympics over the weekend. USA Today reported.
You can watch a video of the chants and salutes here hereYahoo Sports Said It was an “indistinguishable chant.” I’ll leave it to you to be the judge.
“Paris 2024 strongly condemns these actions.”
Additionally, a “Genocide Olympics” banner was displayed at Saturday’s match.
A participant holds a banner reading “Genocide Olympics” and waves the Palestinian flag during the football match between Israel and Paraguay at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Parc des Princes on July 27, 2024. Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images
Security guards removed the protesters from the stadium. Sky News reported.French authorities have launched an investigation into the anti-Semitic exhibit. CNN reported.
“Paris 2024 strongly condemns these actions,” a Paris 2024 spokesperson said in a statement, according to USA Today. “Paris 2024 has filed a complaint and the authorities are ready to cooperate with the investigation.”
But Guy Luzon, head coach of the Israeli soccer team, appears to be using the ugly act as motivation.
“Let’s summon the biggest protests possible, then we can try harder,” he said, according to USA Today, citing Ynet News.
Paraguay defeated Israel 4-2.
Yahoo Sports added that ahead of the Olympics, a left-wing French politician said Israeli athletes were “not welcome” in Paris, and that the Palestinian Olympic Committee had written to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach calling for Israel to be banned from the Olympics.
An anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstration in Paris, France, on July 23, 2024, called for Israel to be excluded from the 2024 Summer Olympics.Photo by Ayman Aref/NurPhoto via Getty Images
More from Yahoo Sports:
To quell the threat of clashes between Israeli fans and pro-Palestinian activists, France’s Interior Minister Gérard Darmanin vowed to erect an “anti-terrorism perimeter” around last Wednesday’s opening soccer match between Israel and Mali. Outside the stadium, There were many police officers on guard and on foot patrol.Most were carrying guns and wearing bulletproof vests, some on horseback and some in riot gear.
The Israeli soccer team bus arrived last Wednesday under an escort of motorbike police and police vehicles, and as kickoff approached, the sound of a police helicopter could be heard overhead.
The Israel-Mali match kicked off without any major disruptions, apart from loud boos and whistles from the crowd when the Israeli national anthem began. It is unclear how much, or if at all, police presence will be reduced in the second match between Israel and Paraguay.
The Paris prosecutor’s office also said it had opened an investigation into death threats against three Israeli athletes. The Jerusalem Post reported..
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