PARIS: France’s interior minister has asked police to ban a pro-Palestinian protest in Paris this weekend against the Israeli air strikes in the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza and crackdowns in the occupied East Jerusalem and West Bank.
“I have asked the Paris police chief to ban the protests on Saturday linked to the recent tensions in the Middle East,” Gerald Darmanin, France’s interior minister wrote on Twitter.
“Serious disturbances to the public order were noted in 2014,” he said, referring to protests against an Israeli offensive on Gaza that year. “Instructions were given to prefects to be particularly vigilant and firm,” he added. Darmanin also urged local police chiefs to assure the “protection of places of worship, schools, cultural centres and businesses of the Jewish community”.
Activists had called the protest in the Barbes district of northern Paris to demonstrate against Israel’s intensifying aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip. More than 100 people have been killed in Gaza, including 27 children, and more than 580 others wounded after heavy Israeli attacks. At least six Israelis and one Indian national have been killed in Israel from rocket attacks by Hamas.
Several demonstrations took place in France during July 2014 to denounce an Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. On July 19, 2014, several thousand protesters defied a ban on a demonstration at Barbes and the rally rapidly degenerated into violence that lasted for hours.
The announcement by Darmanin was criticised by activists and politicians who said there was no reason to cancel the protests. “Demonstrating is a right that you should be the guarantor of,” Member of French Parliament Elsa Faucillon said in a tweet in reply to Darmanin. “And in this case, given the silence of our country on the reasons for the attacks, it even seems a duty to me!”
On Wednesday, French authorities arrested the president of Palestinian solidarity group Association France-Palestine Solidarite (AFPS), who was planning to organise a peaceful rally in Paris.
Bertrand Heilbronn was arrested after attending a meeting at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. He was accompanied by members of parliament and union representatives,. The solidarity group had called for a demonstration on Wednesday in support of the Palestinians. Heilbronn had been released on Thursday.
