People holding up Palestinian flags and a placard that reads, 'Liberty for Palestine' rally at the Trocadero in the French capital, Paris, on May 16, 2018. (Photo by AFP)
A protest in Paris condemned Israel's military assaults on Gaza, highlighting the loss of hundreds of civilian lives and the severe humanitarian crisis caused by a two-month blockade, described as "hell on earth" by the International Red Cross.
A casket draped with a flag of Palestine and a steady, ominous drum beat led Saturday's march through a central Paris neighborhood as demonstrators condemned Israel's renewed military assaults on Gaza, which have resulted in the loss of hundreds more civilian lives.
Expressions of shock, disgust, horror and pity, merge into a shared belief that what Israel is inflicting on Palestine is simply appalling. Banners and slogans denounce the genocide occurring in the territory.
Another target is Israel's blockade, which is now well into its second month, and has left citizens with scant supplies of food, water and medicines, turning Gaza into what one International Red Cross committee member said was "hell on earth".
Protests have also taken aim at the French media.
They lie all the time, and their lie is very, very, very, very big. It's not obvious, it's not normal. It's abnormal, absolutely abnormal what they say.
They don't try to send somebody to try to go, for instance, in Palestine, because Israel don't allow that, doesn't allow them, so they don't try to make something different. [sic]
Izzedine Gam, Activist
This week, France's President Emmanuel Macron said he might officially recognize a Palestinian state, maybe by June.
Will such recognition make any difference?
Why wait until June? Does he want Netanyahu to finish the job, as the Israeli fascists say?
So what do we want? Some more thousands, dozens of thousands of people killed or injured in Gaza and the West Bank?
I would like to know where this Palestinian state will be located, because now, with almost 1 million settlers, illegal settlers, in illegal settlements in the middle of the West Bank, there is no space.
Olivia Zemor, Europalestine, Founder
Other Western governments have remained passive, failing to condemn outright or even sanctioning what Israel has inflicted on the coastal territory as justifiable actions, which the UN Human Rights Office warns threaten the possibility of Palestinians continuing to live, let alone survive, in Gaza.
