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Paris -

A massive demonstration was launched yesterday, Saturday, from Place de la Bastille in the French capital, Paris, to denounce all forms of racism and demand the abolition of the immigration law that was passed last December.

At the invitation of the Euro-Palestine organization, supporters of the Palestinian cause participated in the protest march to demand stopping arming Israel, imposing sanctions on it, and boycotting Israeli products, accusing Western governments of complicity and resorting to a policy of silence.

Activist Olivia Zemmour confirmed the continuation of demonstrations in support of Gaza and Palestine despite French and Israeli pressure (Al Jazeera)

Gaza is present

While thousands of demonstrators chanted, “We do not want racist and fascist laws and the Darmanin Law (French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin),” voices rose in opposition to the genocide against the Palestinian people and the violations committed by the occupation army in the Gaza Strip.

The head of the Euro-Palestine organization, Olivia Zemmour, considered that one of the methods of the French and Israeli governments is to prevent the expression of support for Palestine in various ways, including banning demonstrations and threatening to prevent meetings and conferences, as well as demanding those in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance to “apologise for terrorism.”

In her interview with Al Jazeera Net, Zemmour indicated that pressure groups of all kinds "are seeking to silence us, but we are continuing to make every effort so that Gaza's voice remains loud in all demonstrations, and we will not stop and will not back down."

She added that governments are adopting the “law of replacement,” which means that blacks and Arabs are redundant races and pose a danger, explaining that it is the same method used by Israel to commit its crimes against the people of the besieged Gaza Strip.

French demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and “Boycott Israel” banners (Al Jazeera)

Racist politics

Despite the rainy weather, the demonstrators continued their march carrying Palestinian flags, chanting the slogans “Free Palestine,” “Stop arming Israel,” “Macron is complicit,” and “No to fascism.”

On the occasion of the International Day Against Racism and Fascism, several organizations accused the French government of exceeding legitimate limits in its racist and explicit policy against immigrants, especially after the adoption of the immigration law and the ban on the abaya in schools, attributing this to the rise of the extreme right in all European countries.

In turn, spokesman for the “Unregular Workers Association,” Abu Bakr Dembélé, denounced the requirement of the departments in charge of immigration files to submit papers proving that the immigrant receives a monthly salary even though he does not have a work permit, describing this as “hypocrisy.”

One of the participants in the protest march told Al Jazeera Net, "They launched a rabid campaign against Qatar before the World Cup and claimed that it does not respect workers' rights, and today they themselves are employing hundreds and perhaps thousands of immigrants in the upcoming Olympic Games projects with meager salaries and inhuman working conditions, and we have no right to... “Rejection or denunciation against what we are suffering from because we have no other choice.”

Fattouma - a worker in the cleaning sector - asked in her interview with Al Jazeera Net, “The work day begins at five in the morning every day, and I pay the rent and all other costs to support my family, but I do not understand the reason that prevents the Ministry of Interior from considering service professions in restaurants, hotels, and cleaning among the stressful professions.” Which facilitates obtaining a residence permit in the country.”

African demonstrators demand regularization of their situation in France (Al Jazeera)

Racist and fascist

Dembélé added in his speech during the demonstration that all countries in the world implement racist and repressive policies at the expense of immigrants, which reinforces social disparities and exploits the rights of simple workers to the utmost extent.

He stressed that the extremist right-wing ideas that have penetrated the French government open the way for creating and following fascist practices, which fundamentally and directly affects the poor class, which consists mostly of immigrants, and leaves them drowning in the hardships of daily life.

For her part, Zemmour - who is considered the icon of the struggle in all the demonstrations in support of Palestine in France - described the model of fascism that Western countries want to impose on their people as the fascist model of Israel, which relies on the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, as part of what she called the “clash of civilizations between races.”

It is noteworthy that crimes of a racist, anti-foreigner, or anti-religious nature increased in France by 32% compared to 2022, with nearly 15,000 crimes committed due to race or religion recorded, according to a report issued by the Statistical Center of the Ministry of the Interior last Wednesday.

Source: Al Jazeera