Tear gas used as pro Palestinian march defies Paris ban
Riot police fired tear gas on defiant protesters in Paris who were
supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip despite a ban on Saturday's
demonstration in the French capital.
Marches in support of
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were being held Saturday in a dozen
French cities, but the focus was on Paris, where riot police got ready
as organizers said they would defy a ban on the protest.
Paris
police chief Didier Lallement ordered shops closed around the starting
point of the planned march in a working-class neighbourhood in northern
Paris after an administrative court confirmed the ban.
Authorities
noted a banned July 2014 pro-Palestinian protest against an Israeli
offensive in Gaza that degenerated into violence and running battles
with police to justify the order against Saturday’s march.
Organizers
said they intend to “denounce the latest Israeli aggressions” and mark
the fleeing of Palestinians after Israel declared independence in 1948.
“Stop
Annexation. Palestine Will Vanquish,” read one poster in a small crowd
facing off with police, who blocked off the neighbourhood. Police said
water cannons would be used against those who defy the Paris ban.
Protests were permitted in numerous other cities, including Lille in the north to Marseille on the Mediterranean Sea
