Despite an earlier prohibition on pro-Palestinian gatherings, French police deployed water cannons and tear gas to disperse thousands of protestors on the streets of Paris on Thursday in solidarity of the Palestinian people.
Despite the ban, groups of demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and yelled slogans as heavily armed riot police came on the site.
Massive water cannons drenched reluctantly dispersing crowds in a video posted to social media. Another video shows demonstrators, including elderly and women, being pushed into a stone railing as riot cops and tear gas clouds pursue them, shrieking as police force them with plastic shields.
Following the cancellation of two separate pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Paris slated for Thursday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin banned any pro-Palestine marches, claiming they were “likely to generate disturbances to public order” in a letter to prefects around the country. He stated that any foreign nationals who violate the demonstration prohibition will be “systematically” deported.
According to the minister, France has observed an increase in anti-Semitic incidents, with over 100 documented since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on Saturday. While the majority of them were “tags and swastikas,” according to Darmanin, some were stopped with knives while attempting to enter a school or synagogue. As of Thursday, 24 persons had been arrested in connection with the occurrences.
The government increased protection of Jewish sites, sending 10,000 police officers to 500 locations, Darmanin said, acknowledging there had been no specific terrorist threats against France’s sizable Jewish community
