For the second evening in a row, thousands of people demonstrated in several cities in France on Tuesday to protest against Israel’s deadly bombings on a refugee camp in Rafah, in the south of Gaza. Report on Place de la République in Paris.
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“Ceasefire!” chantedhe thousands of people gathered on the evening of Tuesday May 28 in Paris. For the second day in a row, they are protesting against Israeli bombings on Rafah, where a strike on Sunday evening left 45 dead and 249 injured in a camp for displaced people in the Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health. .
In Paris, on the Place de la République, many wear the traditional keffiyeh around their necks or wave large Palestinian flags. Up to 4,500 people – compared to 10,000 on Monday – gathered at Place de la République at the height of the evening, according to the police headquarters’ count. Among the crowd, Inès said she couldn’t help but be there: “I don’t haveyou want to turn a blind eye to what is happening. And I want to be surrounded by people who are in the same state of mind.“
A little further, the statue which sits in the center of Republic Square is decorated with Palestinian flags, with a large banner claiming: “Stop the genocide“. The French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP) for its part displayed the slogan: “Jews and anti-Zionists, we are for equal rights“.
Merwane, 31 years old, demonstrates for 7 months already. But the strike on the Rafah displaced persons camp is like a new electric shock for him: “Munfortunately it’s a bombing like any other. There are more than 36,000 dead. But the images clearly touched people and are a reminder of the horror that Palestinians experience every day“, he emphasizes.
On the megaphone, someone is calling to boycott Israeli products and to vote for LFI. Several rebellious elected officials are also present. Marie, for her part, protests against certain speeches made on the right.
“Making people believe that if people support Palestine they are anti-Semites is absolutely unacceptable.”
Marie, a protesterat franceinfo
This protester continues and criticizes the French president, not ready to recognize a Palestinian state: “There are countries like Spain and Ireland which are mobilizing and taking real action. This is not the case for France. This is not the case for Macron. He’s just indignant and has nothing but empty words. And it’s unacceptable“, she denounces.
Like the day before, the demonstrators then dispersed in wild processions in the streets of Paris until late at night, sometimes under tear gas from the police. Traffic on the Paris ring road was even blocked for several minutes by “a few dozen people“, indicated the police headquarters.