FRANCE ASKS POLICE TO BAN PRO-PALESTINIAN PARIS PROTEST

Thu 13 May 2021:

France’s interior minister asked police to ban a pro-Palestinian protest in Paris this weekend over the conflict with Israel fearing a repeat of clashes during a similar situation in 2014.

Earlier on Thursday, a peaceful rally in support of Palestine was held in Paris’s Place de la Republique. It involved several dozens of participants who were later dispersed by the police. A similar action was also planned in the French capital on Saturday.

“In Paris, I asked the Prefect of Police to ban the demonstrations on Saturday in connection with the recent tensions in the middle East. Serious disturbances to public order were noted [in similar demonstrations] in 2014. Instructions were given to the Prefects to be particularly vigilant and firm,” Darmanin tweeted.

The police reacted by issuing an order prohibiting the demonstration planned for Saturday.

Large-scale clashes broke out from May 7-10 between Palestinians and Israeli police, leading to the worst violence in the Gaza Strip in recent years. Riots began in two areas of East Jerusalem at once – near the Temple Mount and in the Sheikh Jarrah quarter, where several Arab families are being evicted by the Israeli court decision.

Israeli fighter jets have attacked high-rise buildings and other targets in the Gaza Strip as Palestinians in the besieged enclave woke up on Thursday to mark the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday under relentless aerial bombardment.

Since the Israeli offensive began late on Monday, Gaza’s health ministry says at least 83 people, including 17 children, have been killed. More than 480 others have been wounded.

FILE PHOTO