France-Israel, a draw at the end of a locked evening – Libération

In a Stade de France under heavy police surveillance, France and Israel parted with a score of 0-0, reflecting the evening which no incident disrupted: gloomy and deserted.

It’s 8 p.m. near the Stade de France, this Thursday, November 14. A unit of municipal police bikers passes at low speed on an almost deserted square. “Hey, there were more than them that we hadn’t seen this evening! exclaims a steward stationed in front of the entrance to a parking lot. We had the Raid, the gendarmerie, the drones, the horses, the dogs… All that was missing was more than the motorbikes!” A few dozen minutes before the kick-off of the football match, under very close surveillance, between France and Israel within the framework of the League of Nations, the observation is clear: the police and journalists are almost as numerous as the supporters and the atmosphere is gloomy. In the sky, a helicopter comes and goes incessantly.

When he spoke of the meeting this Thursday morning on France Bleu, the Minister of Sports, Gil Avérous, predicted “a moment of joy” et “a unifying moment of sport”. Despite the geopolitical context that we know, despite the violence committed on the sidelines of the match between Ajax and Manabí Tel-Aviv in Amsterdam and despite – an extremely rare occurrence – the presence of armed police officers in the corridors of a stadium which this evening broke the sad record for the lowest attendance for a French team match (around 15,000 people) since its inauguration in January 1998.

For joy, we will come back

For joy, we will come back. Along the stadium, all the businesses have been closed and there is nothing for the fans to do other than rush back to the stands. There are a few scarves, a few flags, but only those of the two teams competing this evening. Because all other colors were banned by the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nuñez, who specifically targeted “Palestinian flags” et “political messages”. The 4,000 police officers and gendarmes and 1,600 stewards present keep an eye on things, often with zeal.

As evidenced by this, just after the main entrance, this group of plainclothes police officers who carry out unannounced but clearly targeted checks. The typical profile chosen is clear: groups of young men, especially if their skin color strays from white. On the menu, a thorough search and opening of the jackets to check that the jerseys hidden under the clothes comply with the rule set by the police headquarters. Before the meeting, the authorities had said they feared “the groupings of young people from neighboring sensitive areas and the commission of acts of delinquency against the public”, here is the materialization of these fears into action.

“Tonight, we support France and Israel”

Among the supporters who made the trip, the speech is almost the same on everyone’s lips. Despite the heavy context, everyone came to see the France team and didn’t want to talk too much about anything else. “It looks like there’s not going to be too much atmosphere,” Cédric laughs anyway, on the arm of his friend Louisa. The couple in their forties were not discouraged by the context, “on the contrary”. They took their places three days before “because there were some left and they weren’t very expensive.” Aren’t they a little chilled by general psychosis? “We tell ourselves that nothing serious ever happens there when we expect it,” says Cédric, who evades when asked about the conflict in the Middle East: “We come to see the France team and nothing else.”

Before the match, a police source told AFP to expect the presence of around a hundred Israeli supporters. In the north stand of the Stade de France, there are several hundred of them, displaying the flags of the Jewish state and some wearing yarmulkes. Laurent is one of them. He came with his three sons to watch the match and each one carries on their shoulders a white and blue flag emblazoned with the Star of David. A regular supporter of PSG, he had never come to see the Israel team. “It was basically sporting, when we took the places, and then it transformed into a way of showing our support, not for Israel, but for the Jewish people. Tonight, we support France and Israel.”

The kick-off time is approaching, under the gaze of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron and his two predecessors at the Elysée, François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, who came to mark with their presence their desire to combat anti-Semitism. As expected, the stands are three-quarters empty. The announcement of the composition of the Israel team is greeted by whistles from a large part of the stadium. The anthem as well, even if the sound from the speakers, pushed to full blast, partly hides the noise. A few minutes after kick-off, a fight broke out in the area where the supporters of the visiting team were gathered. The stewards are forced to intervene and will separate, until the end of the match, the French and Israeli supporters in what will be the only notable incident of the evening, the circumstances of which have been described as “blurred” by the Paris police headquarters. On the field, the two teams parted in a sad but ultimately quite appropriate draw, 0-0.