For this sixth consecutive Saturday, the anti-sanitary pass beat the pavement in several large cities of France, including Paris, Toulon, Nice, Marseille, Montpellier and Perpignan.
In total, more than 220 demonstrations were organized in France and, according to the Ministry of the Interior, 175,503 people gathered this Saturday, August 21, against 214,845 last week and 237,000 even before.
En directLIVE - "Don't touch Raoult!"
: the sanitary pass in the street for the sixth Saturday in a row
Bringing together 14,700 people in Paris, 9,500 in Montpellier or 6,000 in Toulon, the movement expressed during this sixth mobilization its fear of population control, but also some concern around a possible extension of vaccination to children of less than 12 years.
To read also "We do not want this world for our children": the anti-pass challenge now goes beyond health issues
In Paris, the demonstrators were scattered in four different processions.
Two of them were organized by "yellow vests".
Florian Philippot, former number 2 of the National Front and leader of the “
Patriots
”, took the lead in a third procession, the most massive of the day.
Finally, a fourth, led by the apolitical collective
Paris pour la Liberté
, also roamed the streets of the east of the capital.
Support for Didier Raoult
In front of the Invalides, in the seventh arrondissement of Paris, a crowd of a few thousand demonstrators chanted the name of the doctor, with a large number of signs "do
n't touch Raoult
".
In front of them, the president of the Patriots Florian Philippot offered at the microphone a vibrant tribute to the director of the IHU in Marseille.
"
They want to shamefully oust him,
" he said.
But to attack Raoult is to attack France.
Fouché, Perronne or Raoult: we will not let down those who stood up for us, ”
continued Florian Philippot, citing these two other doctors hostile to health restrictions.
Read alsoDidier Raoult and the Covid-19: chronicle of 18 months of shattering outings
Elsewhere in Paris, many demonstrators carried these signs in support of Didier Raoult.
On the side of the Place de Fontenoy, still in the seventh arrondissement of Paris, the demonstrators did not hesitate to express their support for this infectious disease specialist with controversial remarks.
“
Yellow vests, who is your doctor?
One of the members of the procession exclaimed from time to time.
“
Raoult, Raoult, Raoult
”, responded in chorus the demonstrators, in a reference to the American blockbuster
300.
Anti-Semitic slogans
Apart from this tribute to the Marseille infectious disease specialist, some demonstrators chanted slogans akin to anti-Semitism.
"Who?" Signs, designating - without naming it - the Jewish community as responsible for the health crisis, were notably brandished this Saturday in Lille, reports the
AFP,
but also in Toulouse, where a protester displayed the messages "Who ? "
and "Cassandre is right", in reference to Cassandre Fristot, teacher and former member of the National Front.
The latter will be tried on September 8 for having brandished, at the beginning of August, an anti-Semitic sign in Metz, listing several Jewish personalities around the question “but who?”.
To read also "But who?"
: What does this anti-Semitic slogan written on the signs of anti-health pass protesters mean?
In the Parisian procession led by the
Paris pour la liberté collective
, two young men of 30, Badr and Davy, refused to explicitly condemn the said signs.
“
No matter what their religion, we want the names,”
they say.
We are not anti-Semitic but that does not prevent us from wondering who controls all this
”.
"Suitcase events"
Within the procession of “yellow vests” on Place de Fontenoy, some demonstrators also called out to the crowd, drawing many parallels with Hitler and Nazism.
"
What is the difference between Macron and Hitler?
Macron does not have a mustache,
”a septuagenarian repeated over and over.
Far from seeing there the return of a deep anti-Semitism, the specialist in conspiracy Tristan Mendès-France, questioned by the
AFP
, believes that these speeches would in reality be encouraged by "
suitcase demonstrations, organized behind vague terms, which allow to communities that have nothing to do with each other to come together
”.
To read alsoAntisemitism: investigation opened on the site “They are everywhere”, Gérald Darmanin wants to “close” it
Today, despite a strong police presence, the movement which began in mid-July in its massive form seems to be losing momentum. Like Florian Philippot, who announced on YouTube “
a great unique, national event on Saturday, September 4,
” the demonstrators are now waiting for the start of the school year to restore their health.