'Tel Aviv beach' attracts police and protests in Paris

A Paris beach event celebrating Tel Aviv attracted a handful of visitors but a huge number of journalists, riot police and security guards on August 13, as well as a much larger "Gaza Beach" protest.

Bemused locals who headed down to "Tel Aviv Sur Seine" had to manoeuvre through bag checks, security pat-downs and metal detectors to reach the small stretch of sand on the banks of the Seine.    

Paris converts a long stretch of its riverbank into a makeshift beach known as "Paris Plages" every summer, and has this year named certain days after resorts around the world.    

August 13 event consisted of little more than a few people playing bat and ball in front of a picture of Tel Aviv, but it has been enough to excite a major media brouhaha after objections from anti-Israel protesters.    
"There are 50 visitors for 500 journalists. I feel like I'm on the red carpet at Cannes," said one onlooker.
 
The Tel Aviv section of the beach, not far from Notre Dame cathedral, was only around 200 metres (yards) long and guarded by a phalanx of riot police on either end.    

"Coming today is an act of solidarity with the Jewish people," said Cecilia, an Italian stretched out on a beach chair, adding that she was "a little afraid that this degenerates".    

On the other side of the police cordon, a large number of pro-Palestinian protesters began arriving around midday to set up their rival "Gaza Beach".    

Waving Palestinian flags, chanting slogans and handing out flyers, the activists were keen to present the issue as more than just a media storm in a teacup.
 
"The mayor of Paris wants to make Tel Aviv a town like all the others, when in fact it's the capital of a colonialist state that...