In France, displaying the colour red or dolls representing Palestinian children is now banned during demonstrations in support of Gaza, where Israel has been waging a genocidal war since October 2023.

The French government has informed organisers of pro-Palestinian rallies that they are no longer permitted to use red colours or dolls during protests.

According to a report by IRIB, this week's Gaza solidarity rally in Paris was met with a noticeably heavier police presence than in previous weeks. Protesters were forbidden from displaying dolls, the colour red, or traditional Palestinian garments.

“The government informed us that we are not allowed to portray the suffering of Palestinian mothers, children, and prisoners,” said Olivia Zemmour, director of the Europe-Palestine Institute. “They claim that speaking of children dying in their mothers’ arms is too upsetting for the public.”

“A demonstration is considered shocking to the authorities, yet the real massacre of Gaza’s children is not,” one protester remarked, voicing sorrow at this glaring contradiction.

Demonstrations in support of Gaza continue weekly in a Parisian district. Despite the restrictions on certain symbols, activists have turned to using containers and empty water bottles to illustrate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. In a previous rally, they symbolically depicted the dire living conditions of Palestinian mothers and children—realities that mainstream French media largely refuse to cover. A photo from that protest reached 50 million views on the page of independent journalist Shahin Hazamy. Shortly after, Hazamy was arrested by French police following a sudden, unannounced raid on his home. He has since been released under judicial supervision, with a court hearing scheduled for 3 July 2025.

According to the latest data from Gaza’s Ministry of Health, since the beginning of the war in October 2023, Israeli forces have killed more than 51,305 Palestinians and wounded 117,096 others.