Stewards had to intervene at the Nations League match between France and Israel on Thursday to stop fans of both nations from clashing in the stands.
Absolutely perfect illustration of what we enable with the way the media and the Western political class framed what happened in Amsterdam.
There was a football match between Israel and France yesterday and this 👇 happened at the beginning of the match: a horde of Israeli… pic.twitter.com/tFvTxNZgJj
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) November 15, 2024
Videos taken by spectators and posted on the X social media network show fans, some with Israeli flags, running along the rows of seats at the Stade de France while other fans whistled and booed.
AT LEAST 2 French supporters have been attacked by a mob of Israeli fans inside the Stade de France during the France vs Israel game.@UEFA this game should have never been allowed to go ahead. You have put the life of fans at risk. pic.twitter.com/OGzSZtuwn3
— Leyla Hamed (@leylahamed) November 14, 2024
Stewards wearing orange bibs moved between the two groups to separate them.
Paris police told AFP it could not comment until it had received more information.
The match is taking place under heavy security after fans from the Maccabi Tel Aviv club were attacked in Amsterdam last week following a Europa League match against Ajax.
The violence in Amsterdam flared after Maccabi fans set fire to a Palestinian flag the night before and vandalised a taxi, authorities said.
Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema said the incidents were a “poisonous cocktail of anti-Semitism and hooliganism”.
Around 4,000 police were on patrol outside and inside the stadium in Paris.
🚨alors que les FRANÇAIS ont massivement BOYCOTTÉ le match France Israël ❌
L’hymne d’Israël est SIFFLÉ
L’HUMILIATION EST TOTALE 😂😂😂
C’est ça les Français 🇫🇷 Nous ne seront jamais complice du génocide 💪
— Ilan Gabet (@Ilangabet) November 14, 2024
The attendance was expected to be as low as 13,000 in a stadium with an 80,000 capacity.
The incidents in the Netherlands took place with anti-Israeli sentiment and reported anti-Semitic acts across the world soaring as Israel wages wars against Iran-backed Islamist militants in Lebanon and Gaza.
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Buda Mendes/Getty Images