Thousands Gather in Paris for Solidarity with Palestine
The largest solidarity rally with Palestine in France since the outbreak of the war between Hamas and Israel took place on Sunday afternoon, October 22, in Paris. According to MP Aurélie Trouvé of La France insoumise (LFI), cited by AFP, the organizers counted around 30,000 participants, while the Police Prefecture reported 15,000 demonstrators, unprecedented figures since the summer 2014 war.
No major incidents were reported. Law enforcement made ten arrests, particularly for anti-Semitic remarks and graffiti on the statue of the Republic, as stated by the Prefecture.
The static gathering was organized by the collective Pour une paix juste et durable entre Palestiniens et Israéliens, which brings together around forty organizations, including CGT, FSU, LFI, NPA, Union syndicale Solidaires, the France-Palestine Solidarity association, MRAP, the collective des Musulmans de France, and the Union juive française pour la paix. The collective displayed a banner at the foot of the Republic statue, demanding an immediate ceasefire and an end to the “massacre in Gaza.”
Another demonstration had already taken place on Thursday, October 19, at the same location, but was banned by the Prefecture in accordance with instructions from Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. The Council of State, seized in summary proceedings by the Comité action Palestine, ruled the day before that pro-Palestinian demonstrations could not be banned by a general telegram from the Minister of the Interior and should be subject to the discretion of prefects on a case-by-case basis. Then the Administrative Court of Paris, seized in summary proceedings of the ban, ultimately authorized the gathering on Thursday afternoon, leading the police to lift their device at 7 p.m. Besides the fact that the demonstration was organized during the week, the ban followed by last-minute authorization dissuaded many demonstrators from attending.
This was not the case on Sunday, where the gathering was authorized for the first time. Two-thirds of the Place de la République were filled with demonstrators from all walks of life: bearded Islamists and internationalist leftists, veiled women or bare-armed women mingled in a crowd whose sole rallying cry was the defense of Palestine and the Palestinians. The crowd chanted, “Israel assassin, Macron accomplice,” “We are all Palestinians,” “Children of Gaza, children of Palestine, it is humanity that we are killing,” “Gaza, Gaza, Paris is with you.”
You still have 54.61% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
