More than 10,000 protesters wearing red scarves demonstrated on Sunday in Paris, in favour of the French Republic and against the “yellow vest” protesters and its violence in the country.
According to The Washington Post news reports, around 10,500 people marched on Sunday in Paris, according to Police records. A diverse crowd with red scarves gathered to decry the violent scenario the movement has inspired, including anti-Semitic gestures and words, attacks on French journalists.
In Sunday’s rival demonstration, the crowd marched to the Bastille monument from the Place de la nation square while chanting “Yes to democracy, no to revolution” as they waved European Union and French flags.
Protesters who joined the rally said they were not demonstrating against “yellow vest” demand for help for France’s poorer families, but said they were sick of the destructions and clashes during these times that have now marked its 11th consecutive Saturdays since the mid-November.
Laurent Soulie, an organizer of the march, said the protesters responded to a call to the “silent majority who have remained holed up at home for 10 weeks.”
Nursing manager Marie-Line said she believed that the yellow vests had caused to
“grumble”, but then came “to say that this verbal and physical violence must stop.”
At the demonstration, senator from Macron’s centrist party Francois Patriat told AFP, “It’s not a protest against the yellow vests – it’s a protest to say, you’ve made your demands, we are listening to them.”
“There are other places to discuss this than the street. You cannot block the country and economy because you consider the president to be illegitimate,” Patriat said.
Olivette Lourenço, 66, a retiree who attended Sunday’s march, said, “There are some of their complaints that I agree with — higher salaries, for instance. I believe everyone has the right to a good life.”
She said, “To be honest with you, this is the first time in my life I’ve been to a protest,” adding, “I just don’t agree with the hooligans who come out in the streets and attack Paris, the most beautiful city on earth.”
“We’re told the hooligans are the margins [of the movement], but when I see the gilets jaunes who are present and who watch with admiration what the others do, that’s what disgusts me,” she said.