French lawmaker slammed for saying Israeli athletes not 'welcome' in Paris Olympics

By Nur Asena Erturk

A left-wing lawmaker in France was slammed for saying that the Israeli Olympic delegation was not welcome in Paris.

Member of the parliament from La France Insoumise (France Unbowed, or LFI), Thomas Portes addressed protesters in a demonstration in Paris on Saturday.

"No, the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris. Israeli athletes are not welcome in the Paris Olympic Games," Portes said.

The next day, he told the daily Le Parisien: "French diplomacy must put pressure on the International Olympic Committee so that the Israeli flag and anthem are not admitted in the Olympic Games, just as this was done for Russia. We must put an end to this double standard."

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told the broadcaster France 2 on Sunday that he proposed to President Emmanuel Macron that Israeli delegations should be protected 7/24 by French police forces through the games.

Thomas Portes "put a target on the back of the Israeli athletes," Darmanin said.

The mayor of the southern city of Nice, Christian Estrosi said on X that he requests "a dissolution process against LFI."

President and lawyer of the European Jewish Organization, Muriel Ouaknine-Melki told the broadcaster Cnews that they would file a complaint against Portes for incitement to hate.

Left-wing lawmakers expressed support for Portes on X.

"A genocide is still ongoing in Gaza. Nearly 40,000 people are dead. Rare people who denounce and ask for sanctions are targeted by the far-right. Support for Thomas Portes," lawmaker Aurelien Le Coq said.

The reaction against Thomas Portes is "intolerable," lawmaker Jerome Legavre noted.

Another lawmaker, Manuel Bompard, for his part, said there is "nothing anti-semitic in asking that, due to violations of international law, Israeli athletes compete in the Olympic Games under a neutral banner, as is the case for Russian athletes."

LFI members have been openly expressing support for Gaza and the Palestinian cause since the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East.

Since Tel Aviv launched its brutal war on Oct. 7, nearly 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, while more than 89,700 others are injured, according to Gaza’s local health authorities.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah.