French MP slams Israeli presence at Paris Olympics 2024 over Gaza war

Paris (Quds News Network)- French left-wing MP Thomas Portes said Israel’s Olympic delegation was “not welcome in Paris” and that there should be protests against its taking part in the games over its genocide war on Gaza.

At a pro-Gaza rally on Saturday, Portes said, “Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris,” calling for using “the deadline” of the event and “all the levers that we have to create mobilisations and denounce the presence of a state which today massacres [the Palestinian] people.”

Later, Portes, who represents Seine-Saint-Denis, the department that hosts the Olympic Village and the Stade de France, said that he was not opposed to the presence of Israeli athletes but wanted “French diplomacy to put pressure on the IOC [International Olympic Committee] so that the Israeli flag and anthem are not allowed during these Olympic Games, as is done for Russia”.

Several pro-Palestine protesters and activists in France and the United States, as well as Palestinian sports clubs had joined a call for the IOC to limit Israel’s official participation in the 2024 Summer Games, which is set to kick off on Friday, over the war in Gaza.

Activists have said that if Israel is allowed to participate with no protests or opposition, especially this year as it is committing genocide in Gaza, the games will lose all meaning.

Sparking Uproar

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin expressed the “disgust” he felt at Portes’s remarks, which he said “smack of antisemitism”, adding that the MP was putting “a target on the backs of Israeli athletes” and announcing that the Israeli athletes would receive 24-hour protection from the GIGN, French elite forces, during the competition.

Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne told a meeting of European Union counterparts in Brussels on Monday, “I want to say that on behalf of France, to the Israeli delegation, we welcome you to France for these Olympic Games.”

On the left, Carole Delga, the socialist president of the southeastern Occitanie region, denounced the comments as “irresponsible and unworthy”.

Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), a pro-Israel organisation, described Portes’ comments as “irresponsible”.

Several pro-Israel groups also said they would file a complaint against the MP, denouncing “dangerous calls to hatred”.

The International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra), announced it would refer previous comments by Portes, calling for sanctions against “French-Israelis complicit in war crimes in the Gaza Strip”, to the prosecutor’s office.

Following the uproar, Portes said his comments were motivated by a desire to “put an end to ‘double standards’”.

“The IOC has on several occasions banned countries from participating in the Olympic Games for their role in wars and crimes against humanity. For example, South Africa was excluded from the Games for 30 years, between 1962 and 1992, in reaction to its apartheid policy,” he said.

“The Israeli anthem and flag should not be brandished at the Olympics as long as Israel continues to commit war crimes in Gaza and to intensify illegal colonisation in the West Bank.”