Police fire teargas in Paris and protesters storm town hall in Marseille – with officials blaming violence on ‘ultra-left’
More than 400 people were arrested in France on Saturday after protesters supporting high school student grievances clashed with police.
Police fired teargas in confrontations with protesters, as demonstrations across France were boosted by other groups angry over high prices and the fraying of a social welfare system.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across the country, and tensions erupted on the fringes of the nationwide demonstrations over absent teachers, decrepit school buildings and police violence.
Late on Saturday, the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said there had been 400 arrests and most were adults who were not part of the high school protests.
He said the official demonstration had been hijacked by casseurs – “opportunistic delinquents who had seen a chance to pillage and loot … we will find them and deal with them firmly”.
He said the state was not planning to declare a state of emergency but added: “I very strongly condemn the violence we have seen.”
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Police officers stand guard as Pro-Palestine demonstrators take part in a protest on the second anniversary of October 7th to condemn the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza since then and to demand the stop of the war on October 07, 2025 in Muenster, Germany. [Hesham Elsherif – Anadolu Agency].
UN human rights experts on Thursday called on Germany to end what they described as the “criminalising, punishing, and suppressing” of legitimate Palestinian solidarity activism, warning that the country’s actions undermine fundamental democratic freedoms, Anadolu reports.
“We are alarmed by the persistent pattern of police violence and apparent suppression of Palestine solidarity activism by Germany,” the experts said in a statement.
They urged Berlin to uphold its human rights obligations and “to respect and facilitate the right to peaceful assembly for everyone without discrimination.” The experts stressed that “non-violent protests are protected and must not be punished,” and that dissenting political views “must not be subject to undue restrictions based on content.”
According to the experts, Germany has intensified restrictions on pro-Palestinian protests since October 2023 – when Israel’s relentless offensive on Gaza began – even though most demonstrations have been peaceful. Protesters have voiced demands such as halting arms exports to Israel, ensuring humanitarian access to Gaza, and recognizing the state of Palestine.
They said demonstrators in Berlin had been met with police violence, arrests, and bans, including cases where people were detained simply for chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The experts said German courts have issued contradictory rulings on whether the slogan constitutes protected speech or condones violence.
“Germany must support, not suppress, actions aiming to stop atrocity crimes and genocide,” the experts said. “No circumstances can justify unnecessary and excessive police violence or unjust criminalisation for exercising fundamental freedoms.”
Critics say Germany’s foreign policy stance has been mirrored by a domestic campaign to silence pro-Palestinian voices. Over the past two years, authorities have banned hundreds of rallies, canceled cultural events and academic panels, and denied visas to prominent international speakers critical of Israel.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a staunch ally of Israel, has repeatedly emphasized Germany’s historical responsibility for Israel’s security, rooted in its Nazi past and the Holocaust.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAOrcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
