French police used teargas and water cannon to break up a banned pro-Palestinian protest in Paris on Thursday, as President Emmanuel Macron urged the French to remain united and refrain from bringing the Israel-Hamas conflict home.
Some 3,000 demonstrators gathered at Place de la République in central Paris in support of Palestinians and against the Israeli government.
Protesters waved the Palestinian flag and chanted “Palestine will win”, "Israel murderer" and "Macron accomplice".
Macron has previously condemned the 7 October terror attack by Hamas and voiced solidarity with Israel.
Thirteen French citizens are confirmed to have been killed in the Hamas attack and 17 more children and adults are missing.
Wow. A massive demonstration in solidarity with Palestine is currently taking place in Paris, France.
— sarah (@sahouraxo) October 12, 2023
People are challenging Macron's ban on pro-Palestinian protests by chanting:
“Nous sommes tous des Palestiniens!” (We are all Palestinians!) pic.twitter.com/OT4IXpnkVF
Macron's interior minister had earlier banned pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were "likely to generate disturbances to public order".
But demonstrators in Paris on Thursday defended their right to protest.
"We live in a country of civil law, a country where we have the right to take a stand and to demonstrate," said Charlotte Vautier, 29, an employee at a non-profit, adding it was "unfair" to forbid one side and authorise the other.
French Police and Palestinian protestors are clashing in Paris.
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) October 12, 2023
- The French Government has just banned Pro-Palestinian demonstrations and protests in their country.
- They are using teargas and water cannons to break up such protests.
- The Protestors were shouting things… pic.twitter.com/1DaSg9XnpX
'No justification' for terrorism
France is home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities.
In a televised address on Thursday evening, Macron urged the French “not to pursue at home ideological adventures by imitating or projecting”.
France's leader said the government had acted to boost police protection of Jewish sites, including schools and synagogues, and that there could be no justification for atrocities.
"Those who confuse the Palestinian cause with the justification of terrorism are making a moral, political and strategic mistake," Macron said.
Before he spoke, the far-left France Unbowed party (LFI) faced criticism for refusing to call the Hamas attack an act of terrorism, causing tension with the Socialist and Green parties that are part of the left-wing Nupes coalition set up by LFI.
(with Reuters)
