No football website has been more emotional and sympathetic to the people of Paris and outspoken against terrorism than this one.
Immediately after the horrendous attacks in the French capital under the headline: ‘Paris: Heartfelt Hammers Sympathy” we wrote:
On behalf of this site I send our heartfelt condolences to all those who died or are being held captive by unspeakable forces who moved in on a wonderful city last night.
On behalf of Hammers supporters we say: “We stand with you.”
Since then we have joined in the acts of solidarity at Wembley, posted the words of the French National Anthem and had our own man Nigel Kahn send a report and video on that emotional night.
It is impossible as human beings not to wear our hearts on our sleeve, show compassion, care, solidarity and humanity in such circumstances and Tuesday night’s match was perfectly timed to do so – the two nations were united.
I have nothing at all against the Premier League deciding that the National Anthem of France should be played before games this weekend.
However, there comes a time to move on whilst never forgetting and I fear the PL may be setting a problematical precedent for itself.
For only a few moments ago we learned that 170 people were being held captive in a Mali Hotel after another terrorist attack in which some are believed to have died.
This is unlikely to be the last incident and the question arises: “Does football remember in the same way as it did France and will at the weekend in the days, weeks and months to come?
This horrific massive world wide issue will eventually be dealt with but whether football is an arena to be continually used for acts of remembrance is a complex issue which needs examining.
We welcome your views.
I agree with your view Hugh and the earlier poster that it is shallow and crass. It is good to show some solidarity and we are all outraged at what took place. However, English grounds are no place for the French anthem and personally I would never sing along to another country’s anthem as fans were asked to do against France. The whole point is that the anthem is a rallying call for the people of that country. The other aspects of the night at Wembley were appropriate and meaningful and the good, decent people of England showed their support and respect to the French but that should be enough. The precedent is going to come back and bite the FA. I was reading the remarks of the angry Syria manager a few days ago after his team beat Singapore in a World Cup qualifier which was preceded by a minutes silence for the Paris victims. He pointed out the many thousands killed in the violence in his homeland and demanded to know why their was no minute of silence or recognition for them. At the after match press conference he asked “are French lives more valuable than Syrian lives?”
Views welcome? that’s something this blog is very seriously lacking – for all the supposed “hits” I wonder why this place doesn’t seem to engage their readership in the same way many other West Ham blogs do, often with seeming ease. Even the hideous thegamesgonecrazy used to have far more comments.
Yes, it’s the modern way to demonstrate openly what used to be personal and private, but it doesn’t do any real harm, it might feel shallow and a bit crass but c’est la vie!
I didn’t realise until the Newspapers printed the translation of La Marsellaise what a strange song it was, with it’s cutting the throats of your sons and wives and all that – it makes our own National Anthem sound a bit tame!