On Wednesday night, fans from Paris Saint- displayed a huge “Free Palestine” banner before their Champions League game against Atletico Madrid. The Banner included the ‘I’ of Palestine outlined as the state Israel but entirely covered by the Palestinian keffiyeh, denying Israel’s existence, which the European Jewish Association (EJA) described as "one of the most common antisemitic tropes that exist today."
EJA chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, whose organization is heavily engaged in the fight against antisemitism today wrote to The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) President Aleksander Ceferin urging him to discipline the club, and rebuked the UEFA spokesperson who said the banner was not insulting or provocative.
“If someone unfurled a huge banner with Ukraine under a Russian Flag would it be insulting or provocative Mr President? Or how about Slovenia under an Italian or Austrian Flag? You know the answer.
“Denying Israel’s right to exist, particularly in the mouth of an ongoing war and after the largest pogrom against Jews since the Second World War is not only grossly insulting to millions of Jewish and Israeli football fans worldwide, but it is openly antisemitic and hostile.
“UEFA must act today lest others feel emboldened to do likewise. Jewish communities everywhere, but especially in Europe, are already living under daily threats to their lives from the hate that these banners espouse. The banner is not a call for liberation. It is a call for Jewish eradication," Rabbi Margolin said.