On Thursday, 23 March, cities throughout France, including Toulouse, were home to a ninth day of demonstrations and strikes against the Macron government’s anti-worker “pension reform.” These brought together nearly 150,000 people in Toulouse and 3.5 million people throughout France. In this historic mobilization which gathered a large crowd determined to confront the arrogance of Emmanuel Macron and his anti-social program, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra once again organized a stand alongside the route to emphasize the unity of struggles between standing for social justice and supporting the Palestinian people.
Displaying several banners denouncing the twinning of Toulouse and Tel Aviv, calling for the boycott of Israel and demanding the release of Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for the past 38 years, the Collectif’s members distributed thousands of leaflets. They affirmed that “fighting the government and employers here also means denouncing the unconditional support of the French government for Israeli apartheid and its close and privileged diplomatic, political and economic relations.” The leaflet also highlighted the declaration of several Palestinian trade unions affirming their solidarity with the mobilization in France. (The Collectif Palestine Vaincra is a member organization of the Samidoun Network.)
The stand drew a great deal of attention and interest from participants in the mass mobilization, and many people stopped at the Collectif’s stand to chat, collect free stickers and flyers or to obtain more information on its campaigns. For example, many people took “Boycott TEVA” stickers to put on their health cards to inform pharmacists of their refusal to finance a company that supports the economy of the Israeli occupation.
Dozens of protesters took solidarity photos to demonstrate their commitment to the international campaign to boycott Israel and complicit international companies (such as PUMA, HP and Carrefour).
As they passed in front of the Collectif’s stand, many contingents in the mass march expressed their support by chanting “Algeria has won, Palestine will win,” “Solidarity with the Palestinian people” or “Palestine will live, Palestine will win”. These growing expressions of solidarity demonstrate that the Palestinian people can rely on the international solidarity of peoples in their struggle against colonialism, occupation and apartheid for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.
Throughout the demonstration, the Collectif denounced the scandalous cooperation between France and Israel and called for the development of solidarity with the Palestinian resistance confronting intense repression today. They urged all to participate in the rally on Thursday March 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Capitole metro station in support of the Palestinian people and to denounce the twinning of Toulouse with Tel Aviv, a call now supported by over 30 local organizations.
