“I think there was a period of decency, there was a terrorist attack, it was not good. » This is the explanation given by Emmanuel Macron on Thursday on the ban on propalestian demonstrations in France after the massacres of Israelis by Hamas. “I see people who want to demonstrate peacefully but there are hyper-radical elements who are going to burn the flags of Israel and defend Hamas,” he added.
The Council of State challenged the government on Wednesday, arguing that pro-Palestinian demonstrations could not be systematically banned and that it was up to the prefects alone to assess whether there was a local risk of disturbances to public order.
Fear of trouble
On October 12, five days after the bloody attack perpetrated in Israel by Hamas, Gérald Darmanin instructed the prefects to prohibit “pro-Palestinian demonstrations, because they are likely to generate disturbances to public order”.
“In all the capitals where there are demonstrations, there are very harsh elements who arrive and who do the worst things,” added the Head of State during his exchange with BTS students from Gagny (Seine -St Denis). “Do we want to see this now? But I think we rather want to regroup,” continued Emmanuel Macron. “It is much more useful to do what we do, to have a voice that defends peace, the cessation of hostilities, the fight against terrorism but in a targeted manner and respect for civilian populations,” he said. – he noted. It’s much more effective than tearing yourself apart.”