2024-07-22 06:52:46
“Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Olympic Games. » The judgment is unclear. A few days before the opening ceremony, LFI MP Thomas Portes spoke on stage on Saturday during a rally in support of the Palestinian people in Paris. Facing the crowd, the elected representative condemned the participation of Israeli representatives in the Olympics, calling for “mobilization” in this direction.
“We are a few days away from a world event which will take place in Paris, which is the Olympic Games. And I am here to say that no, Israeli representatives are not welcome in Paris. Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris. We must use this deadline, all the levers we have to create mobilizations,” he explained to applause.
“Thomas Portes Bans Hamas”
The filmed footage was shared several times on social networks, causing outrage in the Jewish community. The President of Crif, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, Yonathan Arfi, condemned the ritual, even going so far as to draw a comparison between the murder of eleven Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich Olympics in 1972… and the the matter of the LFI deputy. “From October 7 (the day Hamas attacked Israel), Thomas Portes legitimizes Hamas. Now you put a target on the backs of Israeli athletes, who have been the most dangerous in the Olympic Games,” he believed, criticizing the “unfairness” of the elected official.
“These elected officials are dangerous and shameful. What we expect from elected officials is to live together and they foster hatred,” judges the deputy mayor of Paris, Karen Taib. Other people are still calling for MP to be “combined”, ie Sophie de MenthonPresident of the Council of Ethic Employers, who asked the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on X.
“This vice from La France insoumise puts a target on the backs of Israeli athletes”, and “the attacks of anti-Semitism in his words are clear”, Gérald Darmanin confirmed to the newspaper 20 Heures de France 2, expressing his “disgust”. . The minister announced that it had been decided two weeks ago that “all Israeli groups” would be protected “24 hours a day” by the police during the Olympic Games, with the Olympic Games taking place on Friday.
“We must put an end to double standards”
Contacted by Le Parisien, the deputy for the third arrondissement of Seine-Saint-Denis assured that he defends the position “clear and constant”. “I think that French diplomacy must put pressure on the IOC so that we do not accept the Israeli flag and anthem during these Olympic Games as we did for Russia. We must end the double standard,” he judged. In other words, athletes can compete, but only by flying the Israeli flag.
And to remember, in passing, the past exclusion of certain states from this sporting event. “The IOC has repeatedly banned countries from the Olympic Games for their involvement in wars and crimes against humanity. For example, South Africa was excluded from the Olympic Games for 30 years, between 1962 and 1992, in response to its apartheid policy,” he explained. Emmanuel Macron defended the exclusion of Russia from the Paris Olympics, which fought part of Ukraine, and the suspension between the competition of athletes representing Israel, which was not “attacked”.
“Representatives will participate in the Olympics like everyone else”
Already in January, the elected LFI expressed its position on X, demanding that the Israeli flag “do not fly over the Olympic stadiums and venues”. “Israeli athletes must participate, as individuals, with a white shirt, under the Olympic flag and anthem,” he defended. on X.
From an Israeli diplomatic source, we refuse to make any comments on the subject of the “LFI issue”. But caution is necessary to ensure the safety of athletes. “There was very strong cooperation between the French and Israeli authorities for several months to protect the Israeli delegation,” he reported. “The representatives will participate in the Olympics like everyone else. There are dresses, flags, opening ceremonies. At the Olympics, athletes wear uniforms. »
A sign of a tense climate, it was clear that the Israeli delegation arrived last week understandably in the Olympic village. “You’re missing out, you don’t even know they have it,” an employee told Le Parisien. Israel announced on Sunday the presence, next Friday, of its President, Isaac Herzog, for the opening of the Olympic Games. He will also participate in the 52nd anniversary of the attack on Israeli athletes during the Munich Games in 1972.
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