‘I’m not afraid’: French Jews defy threats of violence ahead of Paris soccer match
Although French officials are bracing for violence as Israel’s national soccer was due to play in Paris on Thursday night, local Jews insisted they would attend the match despite the threats.
Supporters of Israel in Paris demonstrate in solidariity with Israeli hostages. Photo by No Silence/TPS-IL
French authorities said 4,000 policemen would be deployed at the Stade de France and more security around the capital one week after pro-Palestinian rioters in Amsterdam attacked Israelis who travelled to the Netherlands to watch a match between the Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax teams. Israel’s National Security Council warned its citizens to avoid the match.
But the threat of violence has not deterred locals.
“We will come to the stadium dressed in blue and white, with Israeli and French flags, and we will sing Israeli songs to support the Israelis,” local activist Melanie Pauli-Geysse told The Press Service of Israel.
Pauli-Geysse, a freelance PR and sustainability advisor based in Paris is also a police volunteer. She said she has an agreement with police to escort her group to and from the stadium. When asked if she was afraid, she said, “I have received many threats since October 7, but I’m not afraid. I do not want to be afraid. I believe in freedom and I am fighting for freedom. Freedom and fraternity.”
Shortly after the October 7 attacks, Pauli-Geysse, who is not Jewish, organized a collective called No Silence to raise awareness of Hamas’s sexual crimes, which have not attracted much attention from the world feminist movement.
“I am not Jewish, I am just normal,” she said. “You don’t need to be Jewish to be horrified by what happened on October 7, especially what happened to women.”
No Silence held several events in France in support of the hostages during the summer Olympic games in Paris.
Raphael Uzan, 23, a French journalist with family in Israel, told TPS-IL he would attend the match because “it’s very important for me to support Israel,” despite the threats of violence.
“Since October 7, we have had an atmosphere of antisemitism in France, and showing that we are here is very important,” Uzan insisted.
Uzan said he was not afraid of going to the game because “We have a lot of security” and because French President Emmanuel Macron will also be attending.
Laura Saadoun, a 23-year-old student from a Paris suburb, told TPS-IL she will attend the match even though she is not a soccer fan because she is not “in favor of hiding my Jewish identity.”
“Events in Amsterdam make me understand that there are no longer any limits to antisemitism either in France or elsewhere,” she explained.
Both Uzan and Saadoun mentioned a rise in antisemitism in France since October 7, especially on campuses.
“It is very difficult today to be a Jew in France. A lot of people are saying Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” Uzan said.
Saadoun told TPS-IL, “I feel targeted and uncomfortable when I come across demonstrations and even more often at university. It is not easy to study when your classmates are organizing demonstrations and blaming us for genocide. And professors encourage them.”
She added, “The atmosphere is difficult for Jews. We feel rejected. We no longer want to stand out as Jews in general. Personally, at times I no longer feel welcome or at home in France as a Jew.”
