International

Paris rally turns violent

By Vaiju Naravane

Paris April 8. They wore tee shirts stamped with a fist and a yellow star. Some of them wore masks, while others carried batons and baseball bats. As the huge pro-Israel demonstration reached the Place de la Bastille in Paris on Sunday, they swung into action, randomly attacking members of the left-wing Israeli Peace Now movement and anyone who was middle-eastern or black. Journalists, especially cameramen and photographers, were pursued and attacked. A policeman was knifed and seriously wounded.

The pro-Israel demonstration, which brought forth 100,000 persons, turned ugly with scuffles between right wing Jewish extremists and left wing moderates. With 700,000 Jews, France has the largest Jewish population in Europe. It also has the largest number of Arabs, estimated at over four million. There was trouble in the southern port city of Marseilles where a group of young Arabs flung missiles into the crowds and chanted slogans like "we are all kamikazes.''

The demonstration was also protesting against a series of attacks against Jewish interests, including schools, synagogues and cemeteries believed to have been carried out by north African Arabs.

The march took place a day after thousands of people marched in Paris and other French cities in support of the Palestinians.

Jewish extremists blamed journalists, saying they gave a distorted picture of what was happening in the occupied territories by painting the Palestinians as victims.

They carried banners that read: "Yesterday New York, Today Jerusalem, Tomorrow Paris''.

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