Anti-Israeli march in Paris to be closely monitored Wednesday -- police

PARIS, July 23 (KUNA) -- A massive protest march here Wednesday evening to protest two-weeks of Israeli military onslaught against the Gaza Strip will be under close scrutiny by security services and riot police to offset risks of violence and prevent clashes between pro-Israeli extremists and marginal protesters in the ranks of the pro-Palestinian camp.
Unlike two previous banned demonstrations which ended in violent clashes with riot police and some attacks against Jewish institutions and businesses, Wednesday's march is authorised on the condition that it is contained and policed by the organisers to prevent hooliganism.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that he had obtained "security guarantees" from organisers, who include a number of Palestinian Associations and several Jewish groups, as well as the International Federation of Human Rights and mainly marginal, left-wing political parties and some trade unions.
A number of ruling Socialist Party deputies have also said they will take part in the protest.
After initially appearing to support the Israeli action in Gaza, with President Francois Hollande saying Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should take "all measures" to protect Israeli civilians, the government has now shifted its position in the face of the more than 600 Palestinian dead, including over 100 children.
On Tuesday night, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called for a halt to "the massacres, the attacks" in Gaza and he urged "an immediate cease-fire." Fabius said it was not normal for Israel to come under attack with rockets, but "the riposte must be proportionate" and this was obviously not the case with the number of Palestinian civilians killed.
Protest organisers said on Wednesday that experienced trade union participants would be providing "stewards" to ensure trouble-makers are kept in line or expelled from the march which will end in the government district of Invalides. There will also be a major mobilisation by police to prevent trouble. At the request of the government and the Police Prefecture, which is deploying 500 riot police in the vicinity, the route of the march has been modified to avoid coming close to any Jewish institutions, or synagogues.
This seeks to avoid any risk of confrontation with militants from the Jewish Defence League (JDL) which has mobilised for previous protests and which is accused by pro-Palestinian organisers of having provoked violence at previous marches and of attacking peaceful demonstrators, sometimes under the noses of passive police. (end) jk.rk