Over 200 in Toulouse declare: Israeli ambassador not welcome here!

Translated from the French post at Coup Pour Coup 31, an anti-imperialist collective based in Toulouse and a member organization of the Samidoun Network: 

Photo: Coup Pour Coup 31

Over 200 people gathered near the Chamber of Commerce in Place Esquirol in Toulouse to protest the presence of the Israeli ambassador, Aliza Bin-Noun, at a gala event promoting trade with the Israeli state on Wednesday, 23 May. The event was surrounded by numerous police vans and security buses that did not hesitate to use tear gas against protesters denouncing the appearance of Aliza Bin-Noun, declaring she is unwelcome in Toulouse.

For over an hour, participants chanted continuously in support of the Palestinian people, including, “Boycott Israel!” “Viva l’Intifada!” and “Israel assassin! Moudenc complice!” Jean-Luc Moudenc is the mayor of Toulouse, who attended the gala event.

Photo: Campagne BDS Toulouse

The demonstration included Coup Pour Coup 31 and a number of organizations, including BDS Toulouse, AFPS, the Toulouse Palestinian Association, Attac, the Toulouse Students’ Union, the French Jewish Union for Peace, CGT Educ’Action, SUD Social Health, OCML Voie Proletarienne, the French Communist Party and the New Anticapitalist Party as well as the 2018: La Temps du Palestine Initiative.

Photo: Coup Pour Coup 31

Below is the speech given by Coup Pour Coup 31 at the end of the demonstration:

Aliza Bin-Noun, ambassador of colonialism, racism and apartheid, you are not welcome in Toulouse!

Shame on Moudenc and the officials of the Chamber of Commerce for holding this gala!

Today, Toulouse hosts a war criminal just days after the massacres in Gaza that killed 112 Palestinian civilians and wounded 13,190. Today, the officials of the Chamber of Commerce and the city show in which camp they stand – that of colonialism, racism and apartheid!

Shame on Macron, who has announced that he will host Netanyahu on 5 June to launch the “France-Israel season!” A season of promotion of the Zionist state in France.

70 years after the Nakba, we, the anti-imperialist collective Coup Pour Coup 31, reject all normalization with Israel. 70 years later, this state has in no way become legitimate! And in the forefront, we support the Palestinian resistance, fighting for its national and social rights and for the liberation, all of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

70 years after the Nakba, French imperialism shows once again that it needs its Zionist front in the region – the French state that criminalizes the BDS campaign and has imprisoned the Arab Communist and Palestinian liberation struggler Georges Abdallah since 1984.

We demand the break of all political, economic and diplomatic relations with the Zionist state! Support the Palestinian resistance and build the resistance against French imperialism here!

Palestine vivra, Palestine vaincra!