Paris Olympics: Pro-Palestinian group makes what organizers acknowledge are 'anti-Semitic gestures' during Israeli national anthem at soccer match

PARIS — A group of Pro-Palestinian activists appear to have made "anti-Semitic gestures" when Israel’s national anthem played before its Olympic men’s soccer match against Paraguay on Saturday in Paris.

Video that spread Monday on social media also shows the protesters brandishing Palestinian flags and shouting an indistinguishable chant. Pictures had previously circulated of the group holding two banners with the words "Genocide Olympics" scrawled across them.

Olympic organizers told Sky News on Monday that they were aware that “a banner bearing a political message was displayed and anti-Semitic gestures were made.”

"Paris 2024 strongly condemns these acts," the statement read. “A complaint has been lodged by Paris 2024, which is at the disposal of the authorities to assist with the investigation."

"We obviously deplore that," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Tuesday. "It has not place in sport, it has no place amongst the watching fans."

The incidents occurred as Israel is involved in a bloody conflict in Gaza.

On the morning of Oct. 7, Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack in response to what it calls Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people. Waves of gunmen affiliated with the Palestinian militant group stormed across the Gaza border into Israel, killing more than 1,100 people and taking several hundred more hostage.

Hamas “committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians,” according to a Human Rights Watch report released earlier this month. “The Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7 was designed to kill civilians and take as many people as possible hostage,” said Ida Sawyer, crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch.

Hoping to end Hamas control of Gaza and prevent its leaders from rising out of the rubble of war, Israel retaliated with a fierce aerial bombardment followed by a ground invasion. More than 37,000 are dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

"People in Gaza have told us that the dead are the lucky ones,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement last month, “because the wounded suffer so acutely due to the Israeli authorities’ blockade of lifesaving aid.”

In the days leading up to the start of the Olympics, a left-wing French politician sparked outrage when he said Israeli athletes were "not welcome" in Paris. Then the Palestine Olympic committee wrote a letter to IOC head Thomas Bach demanding the banning of Israel from the Olympics.

In an effort to limit the threat of potential clashes between Israeli fans and pro-Palestinian activists, French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin vowed to create an “antiterrorism perimeter” around Israel’s opening soccer match against Mali last Wednesday. Outside the stadium, throngs of police kept watch or patrolled by foot. Most carried guns and wore bulletproof vests. Some were on horseback or clad in riot gear.

The Israeli soccer team bus arrived last Wednesday escorted by an armada of motorcycle police and police vans. As kickoff approached, the sound of police helicopters could be heard overhead.

Kickoff between Israel and Mali arrived without any major disturbances, save for loud boos and whistles from the crowd at the start of the Israeli national anthem. It’s unclear how much, if at all, the police presence was scaled back for Israel’s second match against Paraguay.