France: Hundreds rally against Islamophobia in Paris

W/S Anti-Islamophobia rally, Paris
W/S Protesters listening to speech
SOT, Protester (French): "Today, my brothers, my sisters, my friends, my comrades, we want to say that what is happening in France is terrifying."
M/S Protesters chanting (French): "Resistance" *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Saliha, Protester (French): "It is my choice, it is my choice. And yes, indeed, let's stop playing with words, it is a religious sign. It represents Islam. And I am a Muslim."
M/S Protester holding white rose; protesters clapping *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Saliha, Protester (French): "In churches, you hear of paedophile priests, did we however point fingers at Christianity, at the Church. It's not because there are a few ugly ducklings that we have to decide that Christianity is a religion of paedophilia. We could do it too, since people do kind of the same with us."
C/U Signs reading (French): "The witch hunt is open" ; "With your hateful discourse, it is secularism that put on a veil"
SOT, Sabrinna, Protester (French): "So today is a gathering, it's not a protest, it's a gathering against Islamophobia. There was a call from several collectives to come and gather today, to protest against this escalation, this witch hunt against Muslims right now in France. And especially about Macron's comments about a 'society of vigilance' and what is happening."
W/S Protesters *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Sabrinna, Protester (French): "My impression is that there is an escalation. For several years, we know that there is a big problem in France with Islamophobia. But at this moment, with things that happened, especially at the Cergy University, where they literally asked the personnel to identify people who might be radicalised, with criteria that were completely false, like for instance the simple fact of not drinking alcohol or having stopped smoking, or things like that. We arrive to something that is really really bad, and I think we have to be numerous now to stand up and denounce, whether we are Muslim or not."
W/S Protesters rallied at Republic Square, Paris
SCRIPT
Hundreds of protesters rallied in Paris's Republic Square on Saturday, to oppose the “escalation” of Islamophobia in the country.
Many of the demonstrators were non-Muslims, while others wore veils and carried signs against what they dubbed a 'witch hunt.'
"There was a call from several collectives to come and gather today, to protest against this escalation, this witch hunt against Muslims right now in France. And especially about Macron's comments about a 'society of vigilance' and what is happening,” said one protester.
According to reports, the organisers called for the rally after Julien Odoul of France's right-wing National Rally asked a mother to remove her hijab when accompanying her child on a school trip inside a local assembly in Dijon. The moment was recorded and published on Odoul's Twitter page.