The French government has banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations scheduled in Paris tomorrow. French Minister of Interior Bernard Cazeneuve cited the violent acts that took place between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israelis demonstrators last week as the reason for this ban.
Cazeneuve said: “I want everyone to show a sense of responsibility. I am the Minister of the Interior and therefore it is my duty to guarantee safety for everyone.”
He also condemned the violent acts that occurred on Sunday describing them as “intolerable” and prefers not to “take the risk of seeing French people tomorrow exposed to violence.”
French President Francois Hollande backed the decision and said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should not be “imported” into France.
Organizers of the scheduled protest said they would still go ahead with the demonstration, describing the decision to ban it as breach to “the basic right” to demonstrate. One of the organizers declared: “In the light of the escalation in Gaza, there is great anger and people will want to express it. Hundreds of thousands of young people will go to Barbés on Saturday whether the demonstration is authorized or not.”
The ban has triggered a large wave of criticism and outrage within French society. The French Human Rights League condemned the ban and claimed that it makes the French government look like it is partial in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A French pro-Palestinian activist commented on the ban saying: “Fascist states stop people demonstrating against wars – it is beyond belief that French Socialists are following their example.”
The Moroccan Times.
