“We are all Palestinians.” Several hundred people gathered on Thursday evening in Paris’ Place de la République in support of Palestinians. The police prefecture had initially banned this demonstration on Tuesday, a decision confirmed on Thursday afternoon by the administrative court of Paris.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has also ordered the systematic ban of “pro-Palestinian demonstrations, because they are likely to generate disorder”, after the attack perpetrated by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel, in a telegram addressed to the prefects on Thursday. The ministry stated that “the organizers” of these demonstrations, if they were to take place, and “troublemakers” would be arrested.
At around 6:00 p.m., surrounded by police officers, there were still several hundred people in Place de la République chanting “Palestine will prevail”, or “Israel assassin, Macron accomplice”, carrying Palestinian flags. Some protesters were also singing, “Zionists, Zionists, you are terrorists”. The Republic monument in the center of the square was tagged with “Free Palestine” in capital letters.
The police prefecture indicated at 6:15 p.m. that “the police force has been ordered to disperse the people present, to apprehend, or even to issue fines”. The security forces experienced a few projectile attacks. They used a water cannon and tear gas to disperse the gathering, shortly before 7:30 p.m.
“An anger that wants to be expressed”
Police prefect Laurent Nuñez had banned this gathering on Tuesday, predicting that it would be “the scene of attitudes, remarks, and gestures, mainly of an anti-Semitic nature, inciting racial hatred and glorifying terrorist attacks committed in recent days in the Middle East”. Urgently seized by several associations, the administrative court of Paris decided on Thursday to maintain this ban. The judge ruled that “the police prefect, by prohibiting the disputed demonstration, did not seriously and manifestly violate the freedoms of expression, assembly, and demonstration”.
A few days after Hamas’ offensive on Israel on Saturday, October 7, the court invoked a context of “extreme violence” and “confirmed risks of exporting this violence (…) on national soil” with regard, in particular, to the “increase in anti-Semitic acts” since this attack.
The presidents of AFPS (Association France Palestine Solidarity), Bertrand Heilbronn, and FTCR (Federation of Tunisians for Citizenship of both Shores), Mohammed Ben Saïd, stated to AFP that they did not maintain the call to demonstrate on Thursday evening. But “we will not give up,” added Bertrand Heilbronn. “These demonstrations provide a political outlet for an anger that wants to be expressed, it is important that we can voice this.” He added: “It is high time that France takes a step back and moves away from this unconditional support for the State of Israel.”
Ten arrests in Lille
Other cities were also the scene of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. In Lille, ten people were arrested, according to the prefecture of the Nord department. The individuals who were apprehended were charged with “rebellion” and “refusal to disperse,” the prefecture said, without providing further details. Despite the ban, several dozen people had gathered in Place de la République just before 6:30 p.m.
Three people were quickly arrested for not obeying the warnings of the riot police to disperse a group of about fifty protesters, some of whom were shouting “Long live Palestine, down with injustice”. Later, about a hundred people, who had been pushed away from Place de la République by the police, protested in the streets of Vieux-Lille chanting “Israel assassin, Macron accomplice”, before being dispersed by tear gas. Two more arrests took place shortly before 7:30 p.m. following a confrontation between two young protesters and riot police.
In Bordeaux, about a hundred people responded to the call of the Girondin Collective for a just and lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis. Unlike the demonstration organized the day before in the same city, this gathering was not banned by the prefecture.
