VIDEO: France arrests four over protest at 'Israeli' orchestra concert

• French police arrested four people after a Paris concert by the ‘Israel’ Philharmonic Orchestra was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters who set off smoke flares.
• The disruption, condemned by the French Culture Minister, was part of a larger push for a cultural boycott of ‘Israel’ due to its ongoing assault on Gaza.

French police have arrested four people after a Paris concert by ‘Israel's’ national orchestra was disrupted, a prosecutor said Friday, with organisers saying protesters lit smoke flares at the event.

The visit drew criticism from several groups ahead of the concert at the Paris Philharmonic hall, over ‘Israel's’ two-year assault on Gaza.

Several individuals repeatedly interrupted Thursday's concert by the ‘Israel’ Philharmonic Orchestra, the venue said.

Videos posted on social media show a protester holding a red flare inside the concert hall with smoke billowing. Other people present were then seen to rush to strike the individual.

The Paris Philharmonic said it had filed a complaint, adding it "deplores and strongly condemns the serious incidents that occurred".

On three occasions, individuals with tickets attempted to disrupt the concert and spectators intervened, the concert venue said.

The protesters were removed and the concert resumed peacefully, it added.

A French prosecutor said that three men and one woman were in custody over the incident.

Before the concert, several activist groups had written an open letter calling for the event to be cancelled.

Allowing the orchestra to perform was an attempt to restore ‘Israel's’ image on the world stage, said the French branch of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, along with several other organisations.

‘Israel's’ ambassador to France Joshua Zarka -- who was at the concert -- told AFP that audience members attacking the protestors was "proof that France has had enough".

“Freedom of programming”

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati condemned the protest, saying "violence has no place in a concert hall".

"Freedom of programming and creation is a fundamental right of our republic," she added.

The protest was the latest example of a push for a cultural boycott of ‘Israel’.

In September, a Belgian festival cancelled a performance by a German orchestra to be led by ‘Israeli’ Lahav Shani, the same 36-year-old conductor who headed Thursday's concert in Paris.

Announcing the cancellation of the Belgian concert, organisers said Shani had not "unequivocally" distanced himself from the ‘Israeli’ government, whose assault on Gaza triggered international uproar.

The cancellation was also condemned amid accusations of antisemitism, including from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who warned that "antisemitic rhetoric" was becoming normalised.

‘Israel's’ assault on Gaza has killed more than 68,500 Palestinians, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.