“Does a child’s life in Gaza mean less than another?” read an additional banner displayed by fans during the game.
By World Israel News Staff
A massive banner depicting the Dome of the Rock and a Palestinian keffiyeh superimposed over the outline of the modern state of Israel was displayed at a major Champions League soccer game, which was watched by millions on television.
Fans of Qatar-owned soccer team Paris Saint Germain (PSG) displayed a huge banner with the words “Free Palestine” and imagery associated with the anti-Israel movement, including a keffiyeh-clad figure with a raised fist and a Palestinian flag.
“Does a child’s life in Gaza mean less than another?” read an additional banner displayed by fans during the game.
The banner was displayed during PSG’s Wednesday night match against Atletico Madrid, another European soccer powerhouse.
Next Thursday, the France and Israeli national teams are set to play against each other in France.
PSG’s owners claimed that they were unaware of the fan’s plans to unfurl the huge banner, which covered an entire seating section of the stadium.
“Paris St Germain recalls that the Parc des Princes is — and must remain — a place of communion around a common passion for soccer and firmly opposes any message of a political nature in its stadium,” the club said in a media statement.
In a radio interview on Thursday morning, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau slammed the display, calling it “unacceptable.”
When asked by Sud Radio if he would consider punitive measures against the team for the banner, Retailleau said that he is “not ruling out anything.”
He added that he “will demand explanations from PSG.”
In September, some 50 Italian fans turned their backs while the Israeli national anthem was played before a match between the Israeli and Italian national soccer teams, then booed and jeered when a commentator said the word “Israel.”
In a statement, the fans said that they had turned their backs in order to protest the “genocide committed by Israel in Gaza.”