Paris police ban another pro-Gaza demo
Paris police have banned a Paris Gaza solidarity demonstration for the second time. Organisers claim the decision to stop Saturday’s march is political.
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Following Prime Minister Manuel Valls’s declaration that the rally might be banned on Wednesday, Paris police announced on Friday afternoon that it could not go ahead because it judged security plans inadequate, organisers said.
They have appealed against the ban, claiming that the route and security provisions had been drawn up with the police.
“This is a political decision, not a police decision,” declared one of the organisers, Youssef Boussoumah.
The march was to have gone from the capital’s Place de la Républiqe to Place de la Nation, the most commonly used route for Paris demonstrations.
Last weekend’s pro-Gaza demonstration was also banned and ended in clashes between protesters and police, while another banned rally in nearby Sarcelles also ended in violence, including attacks on Jewish businesses.
Two other banned protests went off without major incidents, as did authorised ones on Wednesday.
The ban followed fighting between protesters and a group called the Jewish Defence League near a Paris synagogue following a march on 13 July.
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