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Reuters reports:

French police used teargas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinian people in Paris on Thursday, as President Emmanuel Macron urged the French to remain united and refrain from bringing the Israel-Hamas conflict home.

Macron's interior minister had earlier banned pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were "likely to generate disturbances to public order". [...]

"There is no 'Yes, but'. Those who confuse the Palestinian cause with the justification of terrorism are making a moral, political and strategic mistake."

Clearly the UK hasn't followed suit, as there's one such rally in London as I'm writing this (with heavy police presence though).

So, have any other countries followed France's suit, and banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations (considering them inherently pro-Hamas, in this context)?

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    Are you asking about blanket bans? German authorities have banned a number of demonstrations, but that was, as is usual under German law, always for individual events.
    – ccprog
    Commented Oct 14, 2023 at 13:09
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    @ccprog: if the individual bans are numerous enough, they could be construed as a "stealth" ban of higher order, but I have no idea if that's the case in Germany. I realize that in many countries such decisions are decentralized, unlike in France. Commented Oct 14, 2023 at 13:17
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    @ccprog The German situation starts being complicated. zeit.de/politik/ausland/2023-10/… Aparently in Cologne a court reversed a ban on a pro Palistinian demonstration so there is no universal ban (imposed by individual cities).
    – quarague
    Commented Oct 14, 2023 at 17:13
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    @sfxedit just to answer your points: France has a history of antisemitism as well as of islamophobia, and France also has both the largest population of Jewish people and of Muslims in Europe. Consequently the Israel-Palestine conflict is often cause for serious tensions in France (a teacher was murdered recently). The current Macron govt leans pro-Israel, but the left leans pro-Palestine. So it's possible that this protest ban was politically motivated, but the public order justification may also be reasonable.
    – Erwan
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 14:41
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    @Erwan: because of a legal decision watering down the gov't decision, IIRC. reuters.com/world/europe/… Legal decision which came about 4 days after I posted this Q, I might add. Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 15:13

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Apparently Hungary. Although it was described just as a ban on pro-Hamas demonstrations:

October 13

Hungary will not allow any rallies supporting "terrorist organisations," Prime Minister Viktor Orban told public radio on Friday, adding that all Hungarian citizens should feel safe, regardless of their faith or origin. [...]

A rally supporting Palestine was called for 1400 GMT outside the Hungarian Foreign Ministry in Budapest on Facebook.

"There have been attempts even in Hungary," Orban said, without directly referring to the planned event. "But we will not allow sympathy rallies supporting terrorist organisations as that would entail a terror threat to Hungarian citizens."

And then

November 8

Still a “NO”- Permit for Pro-Palestinian Demonstration in Budapest Denied

The Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) has banned a rally announced in connection with the armed conflict between the Hamas terrorist organization and Israel, the police said on their website on Wednesday, adding that there was reason to fear that the event would lead to violence.

The BRFK wrote on police.hu that the rally had been announced by a private citizen for November 22 in the second district of Budapest. They explained that similar rallies in many cities in Europe and around the world have recently ended in violence, so there is reason to fear that this could endanger public order, public safety, and the physical safety of those present in Hungary, and therefore the Budapest Police Headquarters has banned the rally under the law on the right of assembly.

If I'm reading that right, no pro-Palestine demonstration took place in Budapest in the past month. I'm not sure about other Hungarian cities.

They did hold/allow a large pro-Israel rally though.


BTW, as this might be lost in the [lengthy] comments, the ban in France was watered down soon thereafter.

Fance's highest administrative court stated on Wednesday [Oct 18] that pro-Palestinian protests must be banned on a case-by-case basis, while upholding the validity of an instruction from the French interior minister banning all pro-Palestinian protests.

In a note sent to regional police authorities, dated Oct. 12, the interior minister had ordered that "pro-Palestinian protests, because they are likely to generate disturbances to public order, must be banned".

The appeal on the blanket ban instruction was brought by the organisation Comite Action Palestine, arguing that a total and absolute ban is not justified and encroaches on freedom of expression and assembly.

The Conseil d'Etat upheld the validity of the note but said that local authorities could not ban a protest based solely on the note or the fact that a protest is in support of Palestinians.

The Conseil d'Etat said in its decision that while the judges regret the approximative wording of the minister's note, it's intention was to instruct authorities to "ban all protests that support the Palestinian cause, that publicly justify or valorise, directly or indirectly, terrorist acts like those committed in Israel on October 7 by Hamas members."

Subsequently a pro-Palestine rally was allowed in Paris on Oct 22. (Hat tip to Erawn for pointing out this rally.)

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