“Against no one” but for “peace” and an “immediate ceasefire” in the war between Israel and Hamas: rallies in support of the “Palestinian people” are taking place on Saturday, November 4, in Paris and throughout the France.
Before the Parisian demonstration, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, criticized since the start of the conflict for not having described Hamas as “terrorist” and having criticized a visit to Israel by the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, called for an immediate “ceasefire” in Gaza, where according to him “a terrible massacre” is taking place due to Israeli bombings. At least a thousand people left Place de la République at 3 p.m. to head towards Nation, noted Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Leila Gharbi, a 46-year-old legal assistant, holding a Palestinian flag, came to “stop the genocide”: “There needs to be an immediate ceasefire. » At his side, his daughter Inès, a 21-year-old student, wants “the barbarism to stop”. Keltoum Alouache came “for the children of Gaza and Palestine”. “We are against no one,” says this 75-year-old Algerian retiree, who is holding a Palestinian flag. “Free Palestine” and “Cease Fire, Stop Bombing Civilians!” “, proclaim some of the signs.
Demonstration not prohibited by the prefecture
This demonstration, called by associations, unions and political parties, was not banned by the police headquarters, which however reminded in advance that it would not tolerate “any excess”. This is the first unbanned pro-Palestinian mobilization that is not static. A gathering has already taken place Thursday evening in Paris, also authorized, with 2,000 people.
Other demonstrations and gatherings are planned in France, notably in Bordeaux, Orléans, Rouen and Nice.
In Strasbourg, there were at least a thousand shouting “So, so, so, solidarity with the Gazans” or “Israel terrorist, Macron complicit”, noted AFP. In the morning, a peaceful march also brought together in Toulouse between 2,000 people, according to the CGT, and “more than 600”, according to the prefecture.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, triggered on October 7 by the unprecedented attack of the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil, more than 1,400 people have been killed, according to Israeli authorities – the majority civilians on average. day of the Hamas attack – and more than 240 people were taken hostage. In retaliation, Israel declared a war to “annihilate” Hamas, relentlessly shelling the Gaza Strip where nearly 9,500 people, including 3,900 children, were killed, according to a latest Hamas report on Saturday.
