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PARIS — Protests erupted in Paris on Wednesday night against a controversial gala organized by Israel’s far-right. The event, held in a secret location, intended to raise money for Israel.
It advertised guests such as the Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, known for his extreme positions on Gaza, who ended up canceling his trip to Paris at the last minute.
In the past, Smotrich has pushed for West Bank settlement annexation and also said that Israel’s first prime minister should have “finished the job” and kicked all Arabs out of the country when it was founded.
Tensions are at an all-time high as the gala was coincidentally held on the eve of a football match between Israel and France, scheduled for Thursday evening in Paris.
Wednesday’s demonstration was organized by multiple pro-Palestinian groups and the hard-left France Unbowed Party (LFI).
“We came here following the gala organized by ‘Israel is Forever’. I’d call it ‘Horror Israel’ because they’re inviting people who have made comments that incite racial hatred and beyond that, that dehumanize, that is, to put it concretely, that compare Palestinians to animals,” said Salim, an activist for BDS, a movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel.
French authorities refused to cancel the event claiming it posed “no major threat to public order” – further angering protesters and some left-wing politicians such as Thomas Portes, a France Unbowed MP who called for the event’s cancellation.
“We’re really angry, because we’ve got people who, once again, here in the comfort of a gilded ballroom, are going to raise money to fund the Israeli army, which is then going to massacre children in Palestine. This is absolutely unacceptable,” he told Euronews.
Although the protest was relatively peaceful, a few stores such as McDonald’s and a Carrefour grocery store were vandalized.
Another pro-Palestine protest is scheduled for Thursday before the kick-off.
Simultaneously, Betar, a branch of Likud, Israel’s ruling far-right nationalist party, announced it would also be present around the stadium. Some are worried the game could lead to major clashes.
“Just to see the sheer amount of police for the match tomorrow, scares me a little,” said Benjamin-Ange, an activist for a leftist Jewish organization Tsedek.
A total of 4,000 police officers will be mobilized for the football game on Thursday evening in Paris.
That’s the equivalent of one police officer for every five attendees – a highly unusual number for such a sporting event. — Euronews
