Stéphane Séjourné reacted to the comments of the rebellious deputy Thomas Portes who claimed the opposite. Israeli athletes will be protected by the GIGN, an elite unit of the national gendarmerie.
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The Israeli delegation is the “Welcome in France”declared French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné on Monday, July 22, in response to comments by LFI MP Thomas Portes. During a rally in support of the Palestinians on Saturday, the elected official declared that “Israeli athletes do not[étaient] not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris.”
On Sunday evening, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on France 2 that “disgust” what did this statement inspire in him? “hints of anti-Semitism”judging that the deputy was putting “a target on the backs of Israeli athletes.” He said their protection will be provided by the GIGN, an elite unit of the national gendarmerie.
Defending himself from any anti-Semitism, Thomas Portes said in a column in Mediapart on Monday that “The Israeli anthem and flag should not be flown at the Olympics as long as Israel continues to commit war crimes in Gaza and escalate illegal settlement activity in the West Bank.”
For its part, the Palestinian Olympic Committee announced that it had formally requested the International Olympic Committee “the immediate exclusion of Israel from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games”considering in particular that Israel violated the Olympic truce proclaimed by the IOC by carrying out “bombings on Gaza resulting in civilian casualties.”
He cites in particular “the suspension of Russian teams by the International Olympic Committee in response to the invasion of Ukraine.” The Palestinian Olympic Committee therefore calls for:“apply the same rule to Israel and suspend teams from the Olympic Games.”