The Return of Vichy France

It's hard to believe this is Paris in 2024 and not Berlin in 1936. It continues to amaze and sicken me that the entire world has amnesia about what happened in Israel on October 7, 2023, the reason why Israel went to war against the aggressors, the terrorists, the pogromists: Hamas! The brazen hatred of Jews by their supporters gets worse by the day.

From the UK Guardian: France Unbowed MP sparks outrage by saying Israeli Olympians not welcome

"An MP for the radical-left France Unbowed party has sparked outrage after saying Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Paris Olympics and calling for protests against their presence.

"Citing Israel’s war in Gaza, Thomas Portes told a pro-Palestinian gathering in Paris on Saturday: “We are just a few days away from an international event to be held in Paris, the Olympic Games. And I’m here to say that no, the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris. Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris. We have to use this deadline and all the levers we have to mobilise.”

"Yonathan Arfi, the head of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), described the comments as “indecent” and “irresponsible”, accusing Portes of “putting a target on the backs of Israeli athletes”.

"Arfi reminded the MP that 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics and said the country’s Olympians were “already the most in danger” at the Games.

"Portes later told Le Parisien newspaper that French diplomats should put pressure on the International Olympic Committee to ban the Israeli flag and anthem at the Games, which open on Friday, “as is done for Russia”. “It’s time to end the double standards,” Portes said.

"His comments drew criticism from other politicians. Karen Taieb, one of Paris’s deputy mayors, said Portes was “a danger and a disgrace”. “What we expect from our elected representatives is the idea of joining together. These people are advocating hatred,” Taieb wrote on X.

"The French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said: “The hints of antisemitism in his [Portes’] comments are obvious.” Israeli athletes would receive 24-hour protection during the Olympics, he added.

"The Socialist MP Jérôme Guedj posted on X: “Of course Israeli athletes are welcome, like all athletes from all over the world. Not for who they are, but for what they do.”

"Israel’s football team is scheduled to play its first match of the Olympics against Mali in Paris’s Parc des Princes stadium on Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony.

"On Monday the foreign minister, Stéphane Séjourné, said at a meeting with EU counterparts in Brussels: “I want to say on behalf of France, to the Israeli delegation, we welcome you to France for these Olympic Games.”

"The office of the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, said on Sunday he would attend Friday’s boat parade on the Seine and a commemoration for the Israelis killed in Munich in 1972."