Following the attack on the synagogue in La Grande-Motte, the prefect of Hérault bans pro-Palestine demonstrations on August 30 and 31

Deux manifestations organisées par BDS interdites à Montpellier et à Béziers. Midi Libre – GIACOMO ITALIANO

Un arrêté d'interdiction de deux manifestations en soutien à la Palestine a été publié par le Préfet de l'Hérault ce jeudi 29 août moins d'une semaine après l'attentat contre la synagogue de La Grande-Motte. 

The prefect of Hérault issued an order on Thursday banning the demonstrations declared by BDS in Montpellier and Béziers on August 30 and 31. Citing "the departmental context", François-Xavier Lauch had already announced his intention during the rally in support of the Jewish community, a few days after the fire at the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte. 

The Liberation Flag, a relay of the Palestinian flag across France, was to stop in Montpellier and Béziers. This action, supported by BDS 34 and Action unitaire pro-Palestinian collectives, had been declared to the prefecture. Recalling that "the suspect's intentions were to kill Jews", the order also recalls that "the anti-Semitic nature of this attack" was contested by various accounts on social networks.  

BDS denounces "an amalgam that establishes collusion between BDS and this explosion". La Libre pensée, an association defending secularism, has filed an interim order to contest the prefectural decree. The hearing is scheduled for this Friday at 3:30 p.m.