Demonstrators march during a banned protest in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Paris, France, Saturday, May 15, 2021. (AP Photo)

Israel murderer, France complicit; that’s the main slogan shouted by thousands of mainly young people in a march around Barbès, the popular north of Paris.

The protesters voiced their anger over the crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people: the violation of the Al Aqsa compound by Jewish settlers, the ethnic cleansing in Sheikh Jarrah, and the bombing of civilians in Gaza.

And to make things worse: the march has been officially banned by the French authorities, because of fear of public disorder. The police officers confiscated the banners for Palestine. The protestors challenged the ban of the French government in a pacific way. The only violence used was by police forces throwing tear gas grenades and using water cannons.

The French authorities faced all imaginable difficulties to disperse the demonstrators because, in this popular area of Paris, people came out of their houses to support the protest.

In a press conference, before the banned march, organizers denounced the ban and said they were willing to organize a common security force with the police to make sure the march could take place in secured conditions. But the French authorities refused.