France bans pro-Palestine rallies, seeks to criminalize support for Gaza resistance
France's justice minister says that 'legitimizing' the Palestinian offensive constitutes an 'apology of terrorism'
French police have banned two rallies scheduled for 12 October in solidarity with Palestinians being slaughtered in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces.
The protest ban was implemented “taking into account the risk of disturbance to public order,” according to French media citing police officials.
The decision was taken two days after security forces violently repressed a pro-Palestine rally in France's second city of Lyon, using tear gas and batons to break it up.
The police attacks and bans on pro-Palestine rallies come as French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Morett issued a circular to the courts saying that any form of public support for Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the Gaza resistance be prosecuted for advocating terrorism.
“Remarks which tend to encourage others to pass a favorable judgment on an offense classified as terrorist … even uttered within the framework of a debate of general interest [are] constitutive of the apology of terrorism,” the circular reads.
He alleges that supporting the battle for Palestinian liberation would result in “an increase in anti-Semitic offenses.”
"Any attacks on the physical integrity of people from the Jewish community, damage to places of worship, or even comments likely to qualify as an apology for terrorism," he added.
His remarks echo those of UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who called on Tuesday for British police to deem using flags of Palestine and any chant or symbol associated with the Palestinian cause as “hate speech.”
“I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ should be understood as an _expression_ of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world and whether its use in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offense,” she said.
Despite the calls by western ‘democracies’ to criminalize any support for the Palestinian people, rallies have been taking place across the globe to condemn Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October, breaching the Gaza border and taking control of dozens of settlements in a daring operation that has left at least 1,300 Israelis dead. In retaliation, the Israeli army has been conducting indiscriminate airstrikes on Gaza – the world's largest open-air prison – killing over 1,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Israeli forces have also completely blockaded the West Bank, with armed settler groups and soldiers killing dozens of Palestinians.