Nearly three days after the launch of the Hamas attack on Israel, signs of solidarity multiplied towards the Jewish State, Monday October 9, in France, which has the largest Jewish community in Europe. In Paris, a march brought together thousands of people in the 16e arrondissement, and rallies were also held in Bordeaux, Marseille, Tours, Lille and Strasbourg. In Lyon, a rally in support of Palestine was held at the end of the day, despite the ban decided by the prefecture.
In Marseille: “There is a time for everything. Today we are in mourning”
Several hundred people gathered late Monday afternoon in Marseille, in front of the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture at the call of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) Marseille-Provence, the Fund unified Jewish social and the consistory of Marseille. A gathering in solidarity with Israel and Israelis that the organizers wanted to be short and silent. “No words can ease our suffering. No term defines the unbearable cruelty of the attacks perpetrated against women, children, familiesexplained Fabienne Bendayan, president of CRIF in the region, and the only personality to speak. There is a time for everything. Today we are in mourning. »
The many elected officials present were invited to take turns lighting candles in memory of the victims of Hamas attacks. Few members of the Marseille political class did not respond to the call. If they did not speak publicly, the elected officials each in turn denounced to the media “the horror of the situation experienced by Israel”. “To see that families have been taken hostage, it’s abominable, odious, it gives you chills”explained Martine Vassal, president of Les Républicains of the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis and the Bouches-du-Rhône department. “It’s September 11 and the Bataclan combined”whispered Renaud Muselier, the Renaissance president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, worried about“an externalization of the conflict”. After the ceremony, representatives of the Jewish community and elected officials were to be received at the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture to discuss the security of places of worship and communities in Marseille.
In the crowd that took over the prefecture square at the end of the afternoon, there were few demonstrators who did not have a personal link with Israel. “My children and grandchildren are there”says Clément Yana, honorary president of CRIF Marseille-Provence. “We have been in constant communication with them since Saturday. Those near Tel Aviv are fine. To reach my grandson at the Lebanese border, it’s more complicated”, he continues. Patrick Azoulay, 62, recounts the anguish that seized him when he learned of the attacks: “My niece was in Egypt to celebrate her birthday. She was exfiltrated by Israeli security services. » Michèle Azoulay, her cousin, talks about her aunt, a resident of Sderot who “thought it was an earthquake” when the first rockets began to fall.
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