Paris Protesters Condemn Israeli Assault on Gaza
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Thousands of demonstrators filled Paris’s Place de la République on Wednesday night to denounce Israel’s latest ground offensive in Gaza, condemning genocide and mass destruction by the Zionist war machine.
Protesters carried Palestinian flags and placards reading “Gaza… Stop the genocide” and “Netanyahu is a criminal.” Chants of “From the sea to the Jordan, Palestine will live” and “We are all children of Gaza” echoed through the square, as participants voiced solidarity with the besieged population.
“The mobilization should be much stronger, but it seems that we get used to everything, even the horror,” said Emilie, a 41-year-old librarian, who called the assault “too late anyway” as the Israeli army “has already destroyed almost everything, and now they’re razing Gaza City.”
Others rejected despair. “I hope that Israeli colonization will end and that a new Palestinian state will be created,” said Yannis, a 26-year-old researcher, citing moves by countries such as France, Britain, and Australia toward recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Figures from the French left, including European lawmaker Manon Aubry of the LFI party and Green party leader Marine Tondelier, joined the rally. “I am ashamed of what is happening in Gaza, but I am also ashamed of what is happening in France,” Tondelier said. Addressing Socialist Party chief Olivier Faure’s call to raise the Palestinian flag on town halls when President Emmanuel Macron recognizes a Palestinian state at the UN, she added: “A Palestinian flag over a town hall has never killed anyone, while the Israeli army kills every day.”
Israel announced on Tuesday that it had launched a combined ground and air campaign on Gaza City, under the pretext of eliminating Hamas. The move has drawn widespread condemnation abroad, while forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee yet again from a city already shattered by two years of genocidal war and widespread famine.
