From Protesting a Match to Antisemitism Accusations: How Did a Student Initiative Cause Such Regional Controversy?

Editor’s note:

Objectivity is of paramount importance to The Menton Times. As such, the September 2022 issue of the publication features a variety of stances that students took amid the controversial Integration Week boycott.

It is no secret that the OGC Nice vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv football match caused considerable controversy on our campus and in the region, but how did a solidarity protest lead to threats of halting the subsidized cafeteria project in Menton?

This issue started when the Bureau des Élèves announced that OGC Nice would play against Maccabi Tel Aviv, the football match scheduled during Integration Week. The bureau clearly stated that the organization of this sporting event does not reflect a political stand, highlighting the student organization’s “apolitical” nature. The bureau endorsed “any (student) association wishing to express an opinion.” Sciences Palestine immediately responded with a call to boycott the match and began organizing a protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Sciences Palestine’s prompt call to action sparked a heated debate on the “Rising 1As” group chat. Many Sciences Pistes supported the protest, while others dismissed it as unjustified and inappropriate. However, the boycott was warranted. The match was a mere few weeks after the Israeli state bombed Gaza, killing 49 Palestinians and injuring 80, among them children and students. When asked why she wanted to organize the protest, the Co-president of Sciences Palestine, who asked to remain anonymous, responded:

“Three weeks after Israeli bombardments ravaged Gaza once again, leaving its population on the brink of total despair, I just did not think it was right for people to attend a match where a team from the country that orchestrated the attacks was playing without knowing at all what was going on. Our plan was not to make attendees accountable or condemn the Israeli team... We did not want people to forget the atrocities that are being committed by the command of the state where the football team belonged. We wanted to take this opportunity to raise awareness and educate people about a situation that needs our urgent attention.”

In light of our campus’s impressive diversity, it is no surprise that this protest elicited a wide range of reactions ranging from enthusiasm to harsh criticism. The dividing issue was whether a football match could be considered an apolitical event. Because Maccabi Tel Aviv was founded in 1906, before the establishment of the Israeli state, many argued that the football club has no formal ties to the nation. However, the aforementioned reason is insufficient to fully isolate the football team from Israel’s regime and depoliticize it, especially considering that it has strong historical and political links to the mainstream Zionist movement. Maccabi athletic organization was founded in Eastern Europe by Zionists before the first Jewish settlements were established in Palestine. However, in modern-day Israel, the Maccabi football team is still politicized because it has the power to evoke strong nationalist and regional sentiments.

Regardless of whether one is critical of Israel’s actions, demonstrating the match may not have been an effective means of showing solidarity with Palestine. The protest could easily be misunderstood as condemning the attendees and the players on both teams or associating them with a preconceived political stance.

This misconception became widespread when Nice’s mayor, Christian Estrosi, accused the organizers of the protest of antisemitism. Mr. Estrosi called for the prohibition of this protest claiming in a tweet that “anti-zionism often hides antisemitism.” Contrary to what Mr. Estrosi believes, anti-Zionism does not have to coincide with antisemitism; protesting a Zionist state’s actions does not mean protesting against the Jewish people. Antisemitism is an issue of utmost significance, and the term should not be thrown around to slander someone. None of the comments made by the organizer implied antisemitic sentiment but rather a condemnation of the Israeli state’s aggressive policies towards a downtrodden people. Comments like this show how polarizing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be and how quickly extreme claims can be made in the face of such a complex and sensitive topic. The co-president of Sciences Palestine responded to these accusations, saying:

“I think they (accusations of antisemitism) are completely unfounded and strategically utilized to discredit any attempt by Palestinian solidarity organizations to expose the truth…

I think it is quite clear that the target we are criticizing is a State and, most importantly, a specific and ongoing colonial project.”

The backlash against the protest escalated into threats to shut down the project to open a cafeteria on our campus, which is not only an excessive reaction but also a reflection of the limits to freedom of expression and assembly. The protest was, in effect, abandoned, yet the controversy remained, and the hypocrisy behind the mayor’s logic was exposed. How could an apolitical project such as building a cafeteria be used to pressure students to stop a protest?

Fortunately, many influential voices in the region still persist in their Palestinian activism. Another protest was declared in partnership with the Association France Palestine Solidrité Saturday, Sept. 3rd, after a relatively recent Amnesty International report (March 2022) explored the various elements of apartheid and human rights violations committed by Israel. This protest emphasized the sincere Palestinian spirit: a spirit of pride, unity and infinite resistance.

The football match-protest controversy proved to be expository of regional representatives’ divisive and antagonizing tone. On a more positive note, it also highlighted the robust spirit of debate in our SciencesPo campus and the vibrant engagement in social and political affairs in the French Riviera.