Several thousand people mobilized this Sunday in Paris at the call of the world of culture for a “ silent walking ” And ” apolitical » for peace in the Middle East.
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Around 10,000 people marched for peace in the Middle East this Sunday in Paris. Among the personalities present at this march, the actress Isabelle Adjani, the writer Marek Halter and the former Minister of Culture Jack Lang, the procession setting off from the Institute of the Arab World (IMA), of which it is the head. “ People are there to appease. They don’t necessarily think the same thing. I fully support this demonstration of unity », declared the former minister to the press.
Among the demonstrators, few young people, people wearing a white armband or waving a blue flag with a white dove and the word “ peace », noted an AFP journalist on site. With a large white banner and without a slogan, the procession set off very symbolically from the square of the IMA towards the Museum of Art and History of Judaism.
“ We have opted for absolute neutrality in response to the sound of weapons, the vociferation of extremism », declared to the daily Release actress Lubna Azabal, president of the collective behind this initiative supported by 600 personalities from the world of culture. A call for 500 artists to march this Sunday to make “ the voice of union » in France had been published in the form of a column by Telerama last November 13.
Rima Abdul Malak, the Minister of Culture, joined the procession to highlight the role of artists.
It was important to be there and respond to this call that the artists launched. This is what we feel when reading their column: this need for dialogue, for appeasement, to come together. I think that artists have a role to play in society by leading us to experience common emotions, to unite around what unites us, and to find a path towards dialogue, towards otherness, towards the understanding of the other. Culture, that’s it.
Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, on the silent march
“ Another way to express yourself »
This demonstration is being held a week after the march against anti-Semitism, followed by 100,000 people in Paris. On Saturday, pro-Palestinian mobilizations to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza brought together thousands of demonstrators across France.
Criticized for their silence in the face of the Israel-Hamas war, cultural figures have chosen to demonstrate “ silently “, “ another way of expressing yourself because we can’t do it », summarized actress Julie Gayet, member of the collective, on the France 5 channel.
We know that slogans must be striking and therefore are sometimes exclusionary. We could have put “Compassion with the victims”, “Stop the war”, but we understand clearly with this silent march that this is what we want to say.
[Reportage] Nearly 10,000 people marched in silence in response to the sound of weapons
Lubna Azabal, who also denounces “ injunctions to choose one’s side », admitted to having had difficulty attracting young faces in music and cinema who “ are afraid of losing » their followers on social networks and “ be labeled including within the framework of such a unifying initiative “.
“ I don’t want to let hatred win, and that’s exactly the meaning » of this march, for his part declared to the daily The Parisian the actress and director Agnès Jaoui who lost two members of her family in the attacks perpetrated on October 7 in Israel and without news of three relatives taken hostage.
(With AFP)