Pro-Palestinian Protesters In France Attack Jews Marching For Israel, Set Fires And Loot Shops In Jewish Suburb

Sarcelles (AFP) – A French rally against the deadly Israeli offensive in Gaza once again descended into chaos Sunday as protesters looted shops and riot police lobbed tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowds.

The demonstration in the northern Paris suburb of Sarcelles is the third to have deteriorated in the space of eight days in a country that counts the largest Muslim population in western Europe and a huge Jewish community.

A decision by authorities to ban protests in areas deemed too sensitive has also garnered controversy as they took place anyway and turned violent, while authorised ones elsewhere in the country — as well as in other cities across Europe — were peaceful. 

But in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles — sometimes nicknamed “little Jerusalem” for its large community of Sephardic Jews — a banned but orderly demonstration of several hundred descended into chaos when dozens of youth — some of them masked — set fire to bins and lit firecrackers and smoke bombs.

Looters then began raiding shops, wrecking a funeral home and destroying its front window as several protesters shouted: “Fuck Israel!”.

Others raided a drugstore which caught fire. Young girls grabbed baby milk inside.