Almost three days after Hamas began its attack on Israel, signs of solidarity with the Jewish state multiplied on Monday, October 9, in France, which has the largest Jewish community in Europe. In Paris, a march brought together thousands of people in the 16th arrondissement, and rallies also took place in Bordeaux, Marseille, Tours, Lille and Strasbourg. In Lyon, a rally in support of Palestine took place at the end of the day, despite the ban decided by the prefecture.
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In Marseille: “There is a time for everything. Today we mourn »
Several hundred people gathered in Marseille late Monday afternoon in front of the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture at the call of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) Marseille-Provence, the Unified Jewish Social Fund and the Marseille Consistory. A gathering of solidarity with Israel and Israelis that the organizers wanted to keep short and quiet. “No words can ease our suffering. “No term defines the unbearable cruelty of the attacks on women, children and families,” said Fabienne Bendayan, president of CRIF in the region and the only figure to speak. There is time for everything. Today we mourn. »
The many elected officials in attendance were invited to take turns lighting candles in memory of the victims of the Hamas attacks. Only a few members of Marseille’s political class did not respond to the call. Although they did not speak publicly, the elected officials took turns denouncing “the horror of the situation in Israel” to the media. “To see that families have been taken hostage is disgusting, disgusting, it gives you goosebumps,” said Martine Vassal, president of Les Républicains of the metropolis of Aix-Marseille-Provence and the department of Bouches-du-Rhône. “It is September 11th and the Bataclan is united,” whispered Renaud Muselier, the Renaissance president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, worried about “an externalization of the conflict.” After the ceremony, representatives of the Jewish community and elected officials were to be welcomed in the prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône to discuss the safety of places of worship and communities in Marseille.
In the crowd that filled Prefectural Square at the end of the afternoon, there were few protesters who had no personal connection to Israel. “My children and grandchildren are here,” says Clément Yana, honorary president of CRIF Marseille-Provence. “We have been in constant communication with them since Saturday. Those near Tel Aviv are doing well. “Reaching my grandson at the Lebanese border is more complicated,” he continues. Patrick Azoulay, 62, tells of the sadness that overwhelmed him when he learned of the attacks: “My niece was in Egypt to celebrate her birthday. She was exfiltrated by Israeli security services. » Michèle Azoulay, her cousin, remembers her aunt, a resident of Sderot, who “thought it was an earthquake” when the first rockets began to fall.
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