A Pro-Palestinian protester was beaten up by audience members after lighting flares during a Israeli Philharmonic orchestra performance in Paris on Thursday.
The incident at the prestigious concert hall in the French capital caused brief panic in the crowd and forced musicians to leave the stage.
Terrifying footage showed audience members reacting after the pro-Palestinian supporter lit a flare and filled the venue with red smoke.
Concert goers were filmed as they lunged themselves toward the protester, as some threw violent punches before eventually getting the demonstrator to drop the torch and flee.
Some panicked members of the public could be seen screaming and running away from the chaos, while others boo’d and jeered at the protesters.
A protestor reportedly shouted ‘Israel Assassin’ before the flares were set off twice, according to Jonathan Arfi, the president of France’s national Jewish organization CRIF.
The commotion forced musicians to stop their performance until the protesters were removed from the concert hall.
The venue said several spectators repeatedly interrupted Thursday evening’s concert given by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, including twice setting off smoke.
Protesters repeatedly disrupted a concert by the Israel Philharmonic orchestra in Paris on Thursday. In this image, a demonstrator can be seen lighting a flare in the middle of a packed concert hall in Pari
A demonstrator reportedly shouted ‘Israel Assassin’ before lighting the flame
Concert goers intervened, and could be seen throwing punches at the protester before he eventually dropped the flame and took off
The Paris Philharmonic said it had filed a complaint over the disruption, adding it ‘deplores and strongly condemns the serious incidents that occurred’.
On three occasions, individuals who had purchased tickets attempted to disrupt the concert and fellow spectators intervened, the concert venue said.
The protesters were removed and the concert allowed to resume peacefully, it added.
A French prosecutor said on Friday that three women and one man were in custody over the incident.
‘I condemn this action, it was dangerous, it is a way to kidnap culture and arts in order to use it to send violent messages inside French society,’ Arfi said.
The visit by Israel’s leading orchestra had drawn criticism from several groups ahead of the event, over the country’s conduct during its two-year military offensive in Gaza and its severe restrictions on allowing aid into to the occupied Palestinian territory.
The incident involving pro-Palestine protesters in Paris came on the same day that demonstrators descended on Birmingham ahead of Aston Villa’s match against football team Maccabi Tel Aviv while Israel fans showed their support by waving flags outside the ground.
Officers made 11 arrests as the two groups defied a police ring of steel at Villa Park as tensions rose ahead of the Europa League clash on Thursday night.
Four people were arrested in relation to the incident
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Israel has come under intense international criticism for its actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
It launched its military offensive on Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel by militants from Palestinian group Hamas that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people.
Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has so far killed more than 68,500 Palestinians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
UN investigators have accused Israel of committing genocide and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the target of an International Court of Justice arrest warrant to answer charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
