At the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011, before each demonstration, you had to prepare yourself so as not to be stopped by the police: put Bashar al-Assad’s photo as your wallpaper in case the Mukhabarat (military intelligence service) attacked the demonstration, in order to make people believe that you were just passing through. Wear sports shoes to be able to flee, mask yourself so as not to be recognized on the cameras filming the crowd. If you had to send a text message to a comrade, you should never use the words “revolution” or “demonstration”, but rather “party”, “concert”, “walk”… “It’s hot” meant: lots of police; “beautiful”: they haven’t arrived yet; “barbecue”: there are a lot of us.
These codes were expressed spontaneously, the demonstrators recognized them quickly, a form of complicity existed between them. The real driving force behind the creation of these codes was the need to hide in order to escape a fascist regime. At checkpoints, when we drove through, we had to play a vulgar song that the soldiers liked, so that they would not notice our fake IDs. If we had bottles of beer, we would place them next to the driver to prove that we were neither Islamists nor rebels, but just simple young people looking for fun. Of course, these methods changed with the appearance of Islamist roadblocks: the Koran and the fake beard then became the new passes.
At the time, I would never have imagined that thirteen years later, in the heart of Paris, where I took refuge to live freely, I would be forced to disguise myself to attend a demonstration “against Macron’s coup”. In Paul Éluard’s country, after having been threatened and insulted on social networks by the far left, one no longer feels safe once surrounded by the activists of La France insoumise. Even if one is there only out of curiosity, to observe the first demonstration of the new school year organized by this party, he wants to protect himself better: wear a fanny pack, a vest, sunglasses and foundation on his face so as not to be recognized.
“Free Palestine, from Gaza to Jenin”
Following the massacre of October 7, in order to show itself on the side of the victims regardless of their origin, LFI timidly mentioned the release of the hostages, the end of the war and justice for both populations, Israeli and Palestinian. “Immediate ceasefire” was the most repeated slogan. These words no longer have a place in the demonstration of September 7. Eleven months to the day after the Hamas pogrom, La France Insoumise is much clearer in its demands, now marked by anti-Semitic overtones. At Bastille, it is 2 p.m., hundreds of demonstrators, mostly young people, chant: “Israel murderer”, “Down with Israel”, “From Paris to Gaza, the fascists will not pass”, “Long live the resistance of the Palestinian people” … We also hear: “Free Palestine, from Gaza to Jenin”. In other words: destroy Israel, a country where Jews represent 75% of the population, and where the economic capital, Tel Aviv, is located between these two cities.
Within half an hour, the number of demonstrators multiplied. Two men got into a fight. One spoke of “destroying Israel”, the other replied: “it’s the Zionists, not Israel”. Other demonstrators quickly intervened and put an end to the conflict. A few minutes later, another man alerted the crowd: someone was brandishing a flag with the Star of David. Several activists headed towards the indicated location, at the start of Rue de la Roquette. False alarm: it was not the flag of the Hebrew state, but that of the PCF!
Activists wear green sweaters that read “Boycott Israel.” A woman wears this outfit while repeating on the loudspeaker: “Israel murderer, Carrefour accomplice.” Five days earlier, the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement targeted the French group specializing in mass distribution under the hashtag #BoycottCarrefour: “Everything indicates that Carrefour has – at least – one center in the Modiin-Maccabim-Reout settlement.” Carrefour sent food aid to Tsahal in October 2023, but also helped Palestinian civilians in Jordan. Regardless, the BDS continued its calls for boycott. In an article published in 2005 in the Lebanese newspaper Al-SafirBDS co-founder Omar Barghouti called for the creation of a single state in the whole of “historical Palestine.” For him, the idea of founding “two states for two peoples” was never a solution. In the same article, he confirmed that boycotting Israel is the most effective way to get rid of the Jewish state.
Two categories of victims
We advance along the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine towards Nation. I find myself obliged to repeat the slogans of the demonstration so as not to be noticed. For the demonstrators, it is essential to boycott Israel as a whole and to condemn its “allies”: “Israel murderer, Macron collaborator”, “Biden murderer, Macron accomplice”. Although it is not raining, an umbrella in the colours of the Palestinian keffiyeh is brandished by a demonstrator. To my left, a bearded man wears a djellaba. Young people masked with the keffiyeh, in the middle of the crowd, observe the people present. Ten minutes later, the atmosphere changes. Under a Palestinian flag, slogans call for justice for Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré, the two teenagers who died in 2005 after hiding in the grounds of an electrical substation to escape a police check, which triggered violent riots in the suburbs. “We do not forget, we do not forgive”, they repeat, also citing the name of Adama Traoré, who died in 2016, shortly after trying to flee a police check involving his older brother. Other, much more recent, news items are absent from the demonstration: the death of Matisse, a 15-year-old boy beaten up by an Afghan teenager in April; the death of Eric Comyn, a police officer hit by a hit-and-run driver while refusing to comply. It seems that we are now faced with two categories of French victims: those who do not interest these demonstrators for ideological reasons and those who concern them. For them, France is above all Palestinian and migrant.
Suddenly, groups of LGBTQ community and young environmentalists appear. They repeat pro-Palestinian slogans. Shortly after, everyone starts dancing. No sadness is visible. Joy reigns among the demonstrators who are supposed to pay tribute to the victims of Gaza. At the beginning of the demonstration, the woman in the green sweater holding a loudspeaker also mentioned the number of Israeli soldiers killed: “10,000 dead.” According to her, Israel no longer has enough fighters to face the Palestinian resistance. “The Israelis would rather go to prison than go to Gaza,” she assures. According to the German statistics website Statista, the number of Israeli soldiers killed or injured between October and August is 2,254.
We continue the march to Ledru-Rollin; nothing new, the slogans remain the same. It is time to leave. Behind me, I hear: “Macron, dismissal.” A phrase “Stop Macron’s coup” is written on a car. Another on a banner: “The return of Macronie, the revolt too.” Al-Jazeera broadcasts in Arabic a report on the demonstrations in France against Macron’s “dictatorship”. Rima Hassan appears wearing a keffiyeh. The paradox is that Qatar, the owner of this channel, has never recognized democracy. In Paris, demonstrators call the French government dictatorial and an accomplice of Israeli “fascism.” At the same time, if you don’t agree with them, you risk death threats on social networks and a beating in the street. These activists defend democracy with a totalitarian spirit.
* A writer and poet born in Damascus, Omar Youssef Souleimane took part in the demonstrations against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, but, hunted by the secret services, had to flee Syria in 2012. A refugee in France, he published with Flammarion The Little Terrorist, The Last Syrian, A room in exile, and recently Being French.
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