Anti-Semitic violence shook Amsterdam, Paris wants no more of the same

Paris
CNN
—

With thousands of extra security personnel deployed on the streets of Paris and a “double ring” of security thrown around the national stadium, France is taking no chances with Thursday’s soccer match with Israel.

After shocking scenes of violence in Amsterdam last week – with accusations of an organized “hunt” for Jews following days of unrest with visiting fans of Israeli club Maccabi-Tel Aviv – the French capital is determined to avoid a repeat.

About 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed to monitor the match, with about 2,500 of those officers around the stadium itself, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said.

Last year’s French soccer championship final saw about 3,000 police and 1,400 staff deployed, CNN affiliate BFMTV reports.

The elite RAID police unit will be present inside the ground, according to France’s interior minister, and an “anti-terrorist security perimeter” will ensure two separate ID checks and searches for attendees.

This match comes days after several nights of clashes in Amsterdam, where at least five people were treated in hospital and dozens arrested after Israeli fans were attacked following Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 5-0 defeat by Ajax in violence condemned as anti-Semitic by authorities in the Netherlands and Israel.

Tensions had been rising ahead of last Thursday’s game in the Dutch capital. Several social media videos showed Maccabi fans shouting anti-Arab slurs, praising Israeli military strikes in Gaza and shouting “f**k the Arabs.” Maccabi supporters also tore down flags, vandalized a taxi and set fire to a Palestinian flag, Amsterdam police said.

Thursday’s UEFA Nations League match between France and Israel will take place at the Stade de France, the centerpiece of Paris’ 2024 Olympic Games. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he expects 12-13,000 fans in total for the match, one of the lowest ever turnout at the 80,000 capacity stadium.

The supporters of the Israeli national side are likely to differ from the fans at Amsterdam’s Maccabi match – some of whom have a reputation for hooliganism and violence.

On Sunday, Israel specifically warned its citizens against joining the fight due to fears for their safety. Still, the referees are determined that the match must continue.

Retailleau has refused to cancel or move the match, telling parliamentarians it would be tantamount to “caving in to hate mongers.” Instead, the country’s flagship stadium is transformed into a veritable fortress.

But the match will not only be notable for its safety.

French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to attend, an unusual move for a match involving a relatively minor player on the global football stage. The Elysee Palace told CNN affiliate BFMTV that his presence will “send a message of brotherhood and solidarity after the intolerable anti-Semitic acts that followed the fight in Amsterdam.”

Macron is joined by his prime minister and two former presidents, Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, in a rare show of unity.

This game comes at a particularly tense time for politics and sport in France.

Last week, Retailleau demanded answers from Paris Saint-Germain, the city’s main club, after fans unfurled a huge “Free Palestine” display in the stands at a Champions League match.

After the game, Retailleau wrote on X that the clubs should be vigilant that “politics is not going to harm the sport, which must always remain a force for unity,” and promised in a later radio interview that “nothing was off the table” with consideration of sanctions against clubs that refuse to stand on the border and police “political” banners.

The minister struck an aggressive tone in his first months in office, and his response to the attacks in Amsterdam was no different. In a move unprecedented even since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 last year and the ongoing war in Gaza that followed, Retailleau called on prosecutors to investigate a left-wing politician’s comments about the violence in the Dutch capital.

Marie Mesmeur had written that the Israelis who attacked in Amsterdam “were not lynched because they were Jewish, but because they were racist and supported genocide.”

The official French response could not be more different.

Macron said the incidents “recalled the most shameful hours in history”, in sentiments echoed by top French officials in a flurry of X-posts.

France – like much of Europe and North America – has struggled with rising anti-Semitism in recent years, which has only been exacerbated by the October 7 attacks and Israel’s bloody campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.

In France specifically, less than 1% of the French population is Jewish, yet Jews are the victims of 57% of all racist and anti-religious attacks in the country, Retailleau told lawmakers on Tuesday.

France is home to Europe’s largest Jewish population and one of the continent’s largest Muslim populations. In recent years, French right-wing politicians have clamored to claim the moral high ground around anti-Semitism.

All this is happening in the middle of 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 police officers were briefly detained in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

France’s government has tried to tread a difficult path between responding to Hamas attacks on Israel and growing anti-Semitism at home and outrage over Israel’s destruction in Gaza and elsewhere. But in light of recent events in Amsterdam, it is keen to show its commitment to protecting French Jews: Thursday’s match offers the perfect opportunity.