Despite the ceasefire that entered into force on the night of Thursday 20 to Friday 21 May between Hamas and Israel, several demonstrations of support for the Palestinian people were held in Paris and in the provinces on Saturday (Lyon, Strasbourg, Lille, Toulouse , Montpellier, Saint-Etienne, Annecy, etc.). In the capital, it was the first authorized demonstration, after the prohibited one on Saturday, May 15, which had resulted in a considerable deployment of police forces. But the prefecture of police did not grant the request of the organizers to parade between the places of the Republic and the Bastille, enjoining them to be satisfied with a static gathering. Another was scheduled for Sunday afternoon, at the same location.
The two water cannons mobilized for the occasion on Saturday did not have to go into action, the sky taking care of spilling downpours at regular intervals on the some 3,000 demonstrators gathered at the foot of the statue of the Republic . The massive deployment of police cordon at the time of the dispersal proved to be as demonstrative as it was unnecessary. The only incident of the afternoon was that a small group of high school students burned an Israeli flag and waved an Iranian flag amid reproaches from the audience.
Neither bad weather nor sparse attendance – barely a quarter of the square was filled with the protest, which alongside three other rallies on the future of Gonesses’ arable land, against the debt of African countries and for the rights of Tigrayans – did not manage to spoil the pleasure of Lina, a third-year college student from Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis) with her best friend and the latter’s big sister. The young girls had made their own cardboard signs with felt slogans and the effigy of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, caricatured. This is the first time that Lina has demonstrated, the second for her friend Lylia. The older sister, Ines, 26, a medical intern, presents herself as a “Old road” of the Palestinian cause.
For the three girls, support for Palestine goes without saying: “It is neither a question of religion, nor of language. We feel touched as human beings ”, sums up Inès, who also campaigns for school support and would one day like to work for Médecins sans frontières. His first manifestation? “It was after the attack on Charlie hebdo. “ “Palestine, we have always talked about it at home”, they say, adding that they are of Algerian origin, as obvious. The two youngest, Lina and Lylia, wanted to discuss the subject in class with their history-geography teacher: “She warned us by telling us that it was a very complicated subject and that we had to know it well before talking about it., says Lina. She also said that everyone had their own vision and had to be respected. We agree with them, we do not yet fully understand the question and we know that everyone has their own sensitivity. “
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