PARIS, France
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in central Paris on Thursday, in defiance of a controversial new ban on pro-Palestinian rallies in the country.
French police and members of
the gendarmerie worked to disperse the crowds with tear gas and water cannons,
visuals showed.
The ban had been announced
earlier in the day, according to a message sent by French Interior Minister
Gerald Darmanin to the country’s police, citing concerns about public order.
“Pro-Palestinian
demonstrations must be prohibited because they are likely to generate
disturbances to the public order,” said the minister. He added that any organization
of such protests will lead to arrests.
Darmanin also called on the
police to protect all locations visited by French Jews such as synagogues and
schools, and said any foreigner committing acts of anti-Semitism on French soil
will be “immediately expelled”.
The ban follows a deadly and
massive attack by militant group Hamas on Israel over the weekend that killed
more than 1,200 people.
The Israeli government has
retaliated with overwhelming force in the coastal enclave of Gaza, which Hamas
controls. Airstrikes have killed over 1,500 people in the densely inhabited
area, and Israeli officials have shut off supplies of water and fuel to the
entire population.
As the conflict reaches
unprecedented heights, protests in support of both Israelis and Palestinians
have been seen around the world – some resulting in violent clashes.
French President Emmanuel
Macron in his address to the nation on Thursday called on the French people to
stay united, saying that “it is this shield of unity that will protect us from
drifting away and from all hatred.”
Demonstrators in the historic
Place de la Republique on Thursday whistled, clapped, and chanted in slogans in
French including “We are all Palestinian” and “Palestine will live, Palestine
will prevail.”
The ban on pro-Palestinian
rallies is “not normal under the rule of law,” one attendee named Ryan told
Reuters.
“In France, the great country
that they say France is, you cannot demonstrate as is your right, freely.
Unfortunately, freedom is no longer here, and we are forced to defy French law,
as one would say, and demonstrate to show the truth,” he added.
Another protester described
the ban as a “great injustice” and told Reuters that he had been fined 135
euros (roughly $140) for wearing the keffiyeh, a traditional Palestinian scarf.
France is one of a number of
European nations, including the United Kingdom and Germany, where security
measures have been stepped up amid fears of reprisals against members of the
Jewish communities.
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