Flares, smoke and clashes disrupt Israeli orchestra’s Paris concert

By Cecilia Laurent Monpetit, Joseph Ataman, Philippe Cordier, CNN

Paris (CNN) — Protesters disrupted a performance by the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra in Paris three times Thursday as flares, smoke bombs and physical clashes broke out in the concert hall.

In video of the event shared on social media, several members of the audience could be seen physically assaulting one of the activists who lit a red flare. The man was chased down steps in the gallery of Paris’ Philharmonie concert hall before being protected by other concertgoers.

In a statement Friday, the Philharmonie said two smoke bombs were set off during the performance, which French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said was carried out by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

“The troublemakers were removed and the concert, which had been interrupted, resumed and ended peacefully,” the Philarmonie said, adding that it was the first time a concert at the venue had been disrupted.

Nuñez roundly criticized the interruptions on X Friday: “Nothing can justify them,” he said, adding that four people were detained by authorities.

Robert Ejnes, executive director of France’s Representative Council of Jewish Institutions (CRIF), accused the protesters of trying to “turn a cultural event into a political event.”

Questioned over the protest, Manon Aubry, from France’s Far-left party France Unbowed, refused to condemn the disruption, pointing to Israel’s war in Gaza as justification.

“The best way to prevent this type of incident from happening again is for the Israeli government to stop massacring an entire people,” Aubry told French TV station CNews on Friday.

Prior concerns

The scheduling of the concert had raised concerns and opposition, and France’s entertainment union had slammed the Philharmonie’s decision to go ahead with the performance.

“This concert is understood as an attempt at normalization by the State of Israel, even though it is responsible for genocide against the Palestinian people,” CGT Spectacle said in an October 29 statement. It called for the audience to be reminded of the International Criminal Court’s indictments against Israel’s leadership for alleged crimes against humanity, charges Israel has dismissed as politically motivated.

An October 15 open letter at the initiative of artists and addressed to the director of the Philharmonie calling for “the cancellation” of the concert was signed by more than 1,500 people.

The Philharmonie stood firm.

The venue “has welcomed and will continue to welcome both Israeli and Palestinian artists,” the concert hall said on November 3 in a statement.

“Artists cannot be held responsible for the actions of their governments simply by association,” the Philharmonie said.

The Philharmonie wasn’t however afraid to take a moral stance over Russia’ invasion of Ukraine.

On the fifth day of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Philharmonie canceled two concerts of Russia’s Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, directed by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev set for April of that year.  The Philharmonie didn’t try to disguise its reasoning: “solidarity with the Ukrainian people.”

While the Israeli Philharmonic is not a public or official institution of the Israeli state, the orchestra is perhaps the country’s most recognizable musical ambassador. The orchestra performed in Abu Dhabi in 2022 to celebrate the signing of the 2020 Abraham accords.

The protest at the Philharmonie comes amid growing tensions in the musical world around Israel’s war in Gaza. Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov went viral in September as he protested his country’s “genocide” in Gaza during a concert in London.

“It’s my country, it’s my home, but what’s happening now is atrocious,” he told concertgoers from the stage, some of whom booed his speech.

In September, organizers of the Belgian Flanders festival in Gent canceled a concert by Israeli conductor Lahav Shani, who directed Thursday’s concert in Paris, as “he wasn’t able to provide sufficient clarity on his stance towards the genocidal regime of Tel Aviv,” CNN affiliate RTBF reported.

The decision was criticized by Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever according to RTBF.

It’s a cloud of discontent in the musical world that a ceasefire in Gaza has not managed to calm.

“We have noticed that there is a large-scale boycott of artists, not only Israeli but also Jewish,” CRIF Executive Director Ejnes told CNN, “And the (French) Republic has something to say about this.”

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