‘Unacceptable’ – French interior minister slams ‘Free Palestine’ banner unfurled at Paris soccer match

A giant banner calling to “Free Palestine” was unfurled by fans of the French soccer club before the kick-off at a Champions League match of the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) club on Wednesday.

The 50-meter-wide and 20-meter-high banner showed the Dome of the Rock on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount with the slogan,“Free Palestine” and “War on the pitch, but peace in the world,” written underneath.

Around the main picture are depictions of a map including Israel, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza in the colors of the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, a masked fighter reminiscent of Hamas spokesman Abu Obeidah, a tank and a child draped in a Lebanon flag.

Scandaleuse banderole ce soir au Parc des Princes !

Une carte où l'Etat d'Israël n'existe plus.
Un combattant palestinien masqué.

Ce n'est pas un message de paix mais un appel à la haine.

Les auteurs de cette banderole doivent être sanctionnés ! Intolérable ! pic.twitter.com/eTE8gRJl5p

— Yonathan Arfi (@Yonathan_Arfi) November 6, 2024

During the match, fans unrolled another banner reading, “Does a child's life in Gaza mean less than another?”

The incidents occurring just eight days before France was set to take on Israel in a Nations League game in Paris caused considerable controversy.

The president of the Representative Council of the French Jewish institutions, Yonathan Arfi, said the banner was “scandalous.”

“A map where the state of Israel no longer exists. A masked Palestinian fighter. This is not a message of peace but a call to hatred,” he wrote on X. “The perpetrators of this banner must be punished! Intolerable!”

France’s Interior Minister Retailleau Bruno called the banner “unacceptable,” without explicitly criticizing its message. He only noted that “UEFA rules forbid political messages, and it is a political message.”

Speaking with a French Radio station, Retailleau said he didn’t rule out punishment for PSG but would ask for explanations from the club first.

He also called on clubs not to let politics “spoil sport, which must always remain a unifying force.”

The European soccer union UEFA later said PSG would not be fined for the incident, deeming it neither provocative nor insulting.

Under UEFA rules, the display of gestures, words, objects, or other means to transmit provocative messages of a political, ideological, religious, or otherwise offensive nature, is forbidden and liable for fines amounting to 10,000 euros ($10,700).

Last year, the Scottish Celtic Glasgow club, whose fans are predominantly Catholic and vocally supportive of the Palestinian cause, was fined 17,500 euros after fans waved Palestinian flags during a Champions League game.

PSG later said the club had been unaware “of any plans to display such a message.”

“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 statement.