PARIS, Oct 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France’s interior minister has banned all pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the country.
In a statement, Gérald Darmanin ordered foreign nationals who break the rules to be “systematically” deported.
The move comes as European governments fear a rise in anti-semitism triggered by the Israel-Hamas war.
On Thursday, German police broke up a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin.
France has a Jewish community of almost 500,000, the biggest in Europe. France’s Muslim community is also among Europe’s largest – an estimated five million.
Darmanin told regional prefects that Jewish schools and synagogues should be protected by a visible police presence.
He earlier told French radio that 100 anti-semitic acts had been recorded since Saturday. Most involved graffiti showing “swastikas, ‘death to Jews,’ calls to intifadas against Israel”. However, some incidents included people being arrested attempting to carry knives into schools and synagogues, he added.
French police are already guarding the homes of leading MPs. National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet and MP Meyer Habib have been offered further protection.
French President Emmanuel Macron was due to give a TV address on Wednesday in a bid to prevent the war from escalating tensions.
Twelve French citizens are known to have died in the Hamas attack and Macron told party leaders that of the 17 others missing, four were children.
It has also emerged that Assembly President Braun-Pivet has received death threats.
A member of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, she had parliament lit this week in the colours of the Israeli flag in response to the Hamas attack on Israel and called a minute’s silence before an Assembly session on Tuesday.
Braun-Pivet also announced that Maryam Abu Daqqa, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), would be banned from attending a documentary screening in parliament next month. The militant organisation is recognised as a terrorist organisation by the EU.
Meyer Habib has also been given protection. He represents a constituency for overseas French citizens which includes Israel and the Palestinian Territories and is a vocal supporter of Israel. After the Hamas attack he said “we are witnessing the return of pogroms”.
In a separate move, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared “zero tolerance” for anti-semitism.
He told parliament a pro-Palestinian group that had celebrated the murders of Israeli civilians on Saturday would be banned.
Berlin police have also banned planned pro-Palestinian demonstrations, citing the risk of anti-semitic statements and glorification of violence. Authorities said around 60 demonstrators complied with an order to leave Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz on Thursday. — NNN-AGENCIES
