Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

PSG fans’ neo-Nazi paraphernalia (above) and acts of hooliganism

Charles Johnson and Israel’s rightist supporters are gnashing their teeth over the Hapoel soccer brawl in Paris in which a French Caribbean (Black) transit police appears to have saved his own life and that of a French Jewish Hapoel fan by firing his pistol into a surging crowd of far-right fans of the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) soccer team:

One man was killed and another seriously injured, apparently with a single shot in the skirmish in which some PSG supporters shouted racial epithets.

The officer, originally from the Caribbean, was trying to protect a French Jew from the gang of PSG supporters, officials said.

Prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin said a judicial investigation would be formally opened…but that the transport police officer, identified as Antoine Granomort, likely fired his gun in legitimate defense.

He was confronted with “a horde … of extremely excited, extremely violent and extremely aggressive people,” Marin said on France-Info radio. The officer’s aggressors were 50 centimeters to one meter (two to three feet) away when a single shot was fired, Marin said, apparently citing the police officer’s account.

The prosecutor’s office identified the dead man as 24-year-old Julien Quemener…

“They were shouting ‘filthy Jew’ and when they saw our colleague, who comes from the Caribbean, they also yelled, ‘filthy black, we’re going to get you,” said Luc Poignant, a police union official…

Police said the two men who were shot were members of PSG’s far-right fan base that has a notorious violent and racist history…

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said some PSG fans shouted “Death to the Jew” as they attacked the Hapoel fan. The police officer responded with tear gas, but was knocked to the ground by a blow to the head and kick to the stomach, Sarkozy said. He then drew his gun and opened fire.

“Two men fell to the ground, of which one died from his wounds, while the other suffered a lung injury,” Sarkozy said.

The Paris prosecutor said the PSG supporters had made Nazi salutes and shouted, “Le Pen, president,” a reference to Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the extreme-right National Front party…

Overt racism has become increasingly common at PSG’s Parc de Princes stadium, with insults and monkey chants often directed at black players. Hooligan gangs also often look to fight black and Arab members of multiethnic rival gangs at the stadium during games.

The wingnuts preferred narrative would’ve been for the PSG fans to have been French Muslims so they could rail about their hatred of Jews. Now, the ultra-Israel wingnuts can tut-tut about European anti-Semitism, but not blame it on their favored target, Muslims. Tant pis for them.

The irony of all this is that except for their anti-Semitism, both the French rightists & pro-Israeli rightists like Johnson have much in common. They both detest Arabs and Blacks. The both see themselves as leaders of populist movements. Both believe that not only is their particular race is superior to another, they believe a battle to the death with it is necessary.

This incident proves that race is not a legitimate wedge between human beings. Otherwise, the policeman would never have made the stand he did in saving a Jewish life. No, race does not divide us. The Rightists would prefer to characterize the war as being based on religion or race. But it is politics and the hatred it generates that is the real danger.