French protest against Gaza war despite government ban

A pro-Palestinian demonstration which the French government tried to ban turned violent in Paris Saturday.
Riot police used tear gas and baton charges on thousands of protestors who had defied the authorities by turning up to protest against Israel’s land and air offensive in Gaza.
"There are widespread disturbances – everything is being done to bring them under control," said a CRS riot police officer in place de la Republique.
Masses of officers gathered around the Nazareth Synagogue in a side street, as groups chanted "Israel-Murderer". 
The scenes made a mockery of a nearby meeting at the French foreign ministry, where world leaders including US Secretary of State John Kerry and British foreign minister Philip Hammond were involved in Middle East peace talks
Amnesty International was among those who had issued a stern rebuke to France’s Socialist administration for banning the pro-Palestine demonstration.
It came as 1500 riot police flooded the city as protestors pledged to take to the streets anyway.
Despite a legal ban confirmed in the courts on Friday night, vast crowds gathered to express their outrage at the ongoing killings in Gaza.
Amnesty expressed concern about "the threat in France to the fundamental right of freedom of peaceful assembly."
Spokesman Genevieve Garrigos said the ban appeared to be an admission by France that it could not control its own people, and that the "peaceful intentions" of the vast majority of protestors should be respected.
A banned pro-Palestine march also ended violence in Paris last Saturday, while one which was allowed on Wednesday involving around 15,000 people was entirely peaceful.
Despite this, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he wanted to "prevent more hate from spilling out on the streets of Paris," adding: "I urge the organisers to abandon the event on Saturday."
But Omar Alsoumi, a lawyer involved in the protest, said: "The government is trying to ban a fundamental right."
Olivier Besancenot, a former presidential candidate and leader of the new anti-capitalist party, had called on "all democratic forces, political, trade unions and associations to protest against the ban and to converge on" the Place de la Republique, where the demonstration will take place.
Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed up to 900 Palestinians, including numerous children, and 37 Israelis, the vast majority soldiers.
The conflict has stirred up huge passions in France - home to the largest Muslim and Jewish communities in Western Europe.
Jews have complained about synagogues being targeted, while Muslims say that pro-Palestine supporters are deliberately being demonised as anti-Semites.
Vigilantes from a group called the Jewish Defence League (LDJ) have drawn demonstrators into fights, while their opponents have burned Israeli flags.
There are more than five million Muslims in the country, and half a million Jews, many of them living in Paris.