By Hajer M'tiri
PARIS
A controversial event dedicated to celebrate Israel's city of Tel Aviv city on the temporary river side beaches of the French capital has kicked off on Thursday amid high security presence, low turnout and a pro-Palestine counter event: "Gaza Beaches".
For the past few days, the "Tel Aviv on the Seine" has caused uproar among politicians and pro-Palestinian groups calling on Paris mayor to cancel the event.
The decision to dedicate the Paris Plages festival to the Israeli coastal city for a day has led to claims of double standards among pro-Palestinian groups whose plans to protest against Israel’s military onslaught on Gaza were blocked last year.
On Thursday, more than 500 additional police officers were deployed along the Seine river and neighboring streets in fear of potential clashes.
At the entrance and exits of the beach, police had set checkpoints, verifying identities and searching bags thoroughly.
Towards the artificial beach, a warbling Hebrew music led you towards a small crowd of 60 people: some of them dancing, others standing on line near the "Falafel" stand and others posing and taking pictures.
Holding a French flag and an Israeli flag, Edna, a 38-year-old French Israeli swaying to the music, said: "I'm here to celebrate my countries: Israel and France. I'm here to celebrate life, have good time and eat delicious food."
At the scene, people, bareheaded or wearing the kippah, offered by the organizers, told the more-than-50 journalists at the scene that their presence reflected their sympathy and support for "Israel".
'Gaza Plages'
A few meters away, after passing a cordon of police officers, a huge Palestinian flag and banners with slogans "Palestine vivra! Palestine vaincra" (Palestine will live! Palestine will vanquish!) introduce a rival event: "Gaza Plages" (Gaza Beaches).
Several pro-Palestine activists, some waving Palestinian flags, others wearing T-shirts "Boycott Israel", have set up information booths with fliers purporting to explain the history of the Israeli occupation.
"We are here to denounce the collaboration between the French state and the authorities of the terrorist Israeli occupation and to explain peacefully to people the crimes committed by Israel against innocent people," the president of the pro-Palestinian group CAPJPO-EuroPalelestine, Olivia Zemor, told Anadolu Agency.
"This event (Tel Aviv Sur Seine) is just a French green card for Israel to continue its crimes. Those people who are dancing few meters from us are the same who were celebrating the death of Palestinian kids and innocents," she added.
Zemor described the event, which comes two weeks after a Palestinian infant was killed in a West Bank arson attack, as "pure provocation".
Eighteen-month-old Ali Dawabsha was burned alive in an arson attack on July 31 near the Palestinian city of Nablus. Three Jewish settlers have since been jailed. The baby’s father died of his injuries on Saturday.
‘Double standards’
Last summer’s Gaza offensive resulted in the deaths of more than 2,200 Palestinians, according to the U.N. Around 70 Israelis were killed, mostly soldiers.
At the time, the French Interior Ministry banned protests against the bombardment over fears of violence. Protesters disregarded the ban and were dispersed by police using tear gas. The French League of Human Rights called the ban a “manifest obstacle to constitutional liberty and a denial of reality”.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has faced criticism over her "personal decision" to stage the event. A number of parties represented on the city council are opposed to the Tel Aviv day.
Left Party Councilor Danielle Simonnet was among those calling for the festival to be cancelled.
"Just one year after the massacre in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army, and even as the Israeli government intensifies its policy of settlement construction… Paris City Hall dares to organize 'within the framework of its cultural partnerships with the world's largest cities' a day honoring Tel Aviv," Simmonet wrote on her official blog on Saturday.
An online petition urging Hidalgo to cancel the event gathered more than 24,000 signatures by Thursday morning.
Several pro-Palestinian protesters did turn up to show their disgust for an event that they claim shows a tacit support of Israel's policy towards the Palestinians, an accusation that has been fiercely denied by Hidalgo.
She has refused and in an article in Le Monde newspaper on Tuesday she praised Tel Aviv as “a city open to all minorities, including sexual, creative, inclusive, in short, a progressive city.”
She added that Israelis should not be condemned and punished for their government’s policies.
“It is not about religion but about international law, human rights and human dignity," CAPJPO-EuroPalestine said earlier in a statement on its Facebook page.
The French branch of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, which campaigns for Israel to comply with international law, signaled its opposition on Monday by commenting that Tel Aviv was built on the ruins of Palestinian villages.
