Tens of thousands of people gathered in Paris for a pro-Palestinian demonstration despite the ban, during the protest the police used tear gas and water cannon to try to disperse the demonstrators.
About 4,200 police officers were deployed in the French capital (Paris) before the protest on Saturday afternoon.
By 7pm on Saturday 44 people were arrested and 1 policeman was injured, according to the French authorities.
The demonstrations took place in Paris to mark Nakba Day in the 18th district, the shopkeepers at the 18th district were already ordered by police to keep their shops closed.
According to France’s Ministry of the Interior, about 2500 to 3500 people demonstrated in Paris and about 22000 people demonstrated throughout France.
The pro-Palestinian demonstrations also took place in other cities like Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, and Strasbourg.
Nakba Day marks the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians after the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, referred to as the Palestinian “catastrophe”.
The ban on demonstration is justified by Paris police as in 2014 thousands of people demonstrated against the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and the demonstrators also attacked a synagogue and many Jewish shops.
The protestors stuck to their call for a protest despite the ban. The Paris police assumed that there could be riots due to the current tensions in Israel and pro-Palestinian protests could draw large crowds to the rally.
