2023-10-22 03:06:36
A giant Palestinian flag unfurled in Lyon, a dove for peace in Marseille… Several rallies in support of the Palestinians and the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip took place this Saturday in France.
In several cities in France, where demonstrators demanded the lifting of the blockade of the Palestinian enclave by Israeli soldiers, the same slogans: “We are all children of Palestine”. But also “Israel assassin, Macron complicit” taken up in Lyon, Metz or Rennes.
Since October 7, more than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel by the men of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, the majority of civilians mowed down by bullets, burned alive or dead of mutilation, according to the Israeli authorities. In response, the Jewish state army shelled the Palestinian enclave daily.
In the Gaza Strip, 4,385 people, mostly civilians, were killed in retaliatory bombings, according to the Health Ministry of Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007.
1,100 people in Lyon
In Lyon, where more than a thousand people gathered in a demonstration authorized at the last moment, a giant Palestinian flag was displayed on the Place des Terreaux, in front of the Town Hall. Slogans such as “Gaza, we are here!” » and “Palestine will live, Palestine will win”, were heard.
Some 1,100 people, according to the prefecture’s count, gathered just a few hours after the administrative court overturned the initial ban on this demonstration.
“No human being deserves this,” said Sara, a 32-year-old special education teacher who did not want to give her name, deploring the situation of civilians in Gaza, who have suffered since the Hamas attack, the response of the Israeli army.
“We are not here to stir up hatred, we do not confuse Israelis and Zionists, but do not confuse Muslims and Islamists,” she pleaded.
A minute of silence in Metz
In Montpellier, some 700 people gathered this Saturday afternoon at the call of the France Palestine Solidarité de l’Hérault association (AFPS34). Just as in Lyon, Metz or Rouen, the demonstration was initially banned by the prefecture before being authorized by the courts.
In Bordeaux, two demonstrations, one authorized and the other not, brought together several dozen people. “If standing with an umbrella in the colors of Palestine is illegal, I am stunned,” lamented Aziza, a trader present at the second gathering.
A minute of silence was observed in Metz by several hundred participants, “for the dead of Gaza”.
Rally “for peace” in Marseille
In Marseille in the morning, white flags flew over the Old Port during a rally for peace between Israel and the Palestinians which brought together around a hundred people.
“We want to act” and fight “against this anxiety-provoking climate which is spreading,” explained Kamel Fassatoui, head of a local branch of Emmaus at the initiative of this gathering with the Human Rights League. Man (LDH) from Bouches-du-Rhône.
“This is not about taking sides. We want to be bearers of this voice of peace. We must put pressure on our politicians,” he added through the megaphone.
In front of him, some of those gathered waved white flags, others held white flowers. A dove drawn on a board sat enthroned, with dozens of candles at its feet.
Jeanne, an educator wishing to remain anonymous because she is a civil servant, said she feared the importation of the conflict into France and “the backlash for the Jewish and Muslim communities”.
A “decency period”
While they had been systematically banned since the Hamas attack, demonstrations in support of the Gazan population are beginning to be authorized by the courts. On Thursday, a pro-Palestinian rally was authorized at the last minute in the capital by the Paris Administrative Court.
On Wednesday the Council of State reminded the government that pro-Palestinian demonstrations could not be systematically banned and that it was up to the prefects alone to assess whether there was a local risk of disturbances to public order.
The President of the Republic justified his decision to ban these demonstrations on Thursday by the need to observe “a period of decency” after the Hamas attack.
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