Two pro-Palestinian demonstrations that were scheduled to take place on Thursday, October 12th in Paris have been banned by order of the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nunez, announced the Paris police prefecture on Tuesday. This ban was put in place “due to the risks of public disorder,” as the demonstrations were supposed to take place at Place de La République at 6:00 PM. Several pro-Palestinian demonstrations have already been banned in several cities throughout the country, for the same reason.
In a statement, the association “France Palestine Solidarity,” the organizers of one of the Parisian demonstrations, announced that they will contest the decision: “We denounce the bans on demonstrations in solidarity with the Palestinian people. In Paris, the gathering scheduled for Thursday evening has been banned, which we will contest in court. We demand respect for the right to freedom of expression and assembly.”
Despite the ban on a demonstration by the Rhône prefecture, about a hundred people participated in a demonstration in Lyon on Wednesday evening in “support of the Palestinian people.” Shortly after 6:30 PM, the demonstrators were dispersed by the police, who had implemented a significant security presence and used tear gas. An earlier gathering in support of “Palestinian resistance,” which was not declared, had been banned on Monday. Nevertheless, about 150 people had peacefully demonstrated before being dispersed by law enforcement. In Saint-Etienne, the prefect of the Loire also issued an order to ban a pro-Palestinian demonstration scheduled for Thursday.
