FRANCE - Paris clashes near Israeli Embassy, tear gas used

 PARIS (AP):

Hundreds of people in Paris clashed with police yesterday near the Israeli Embassy after blocking traffic to protest a deadly commando raid on ships carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Protesters, some covering their faces in black-and-white Palestinian scarves, threw stones at police as they charged towards the embassy on a ritzy shopping street near the Champs-Elysées and the French presidential palace.

Police responded by firing tear gas and pepper spray, and cordoning off nearby roads. About 1,200 people joined in the demonstration, according to Paris police.

Many in the throng shouted "Israel, assassin!" and "We are all Palestinians," while youths near the front sought to break through a police line.

Some officers used police batons to beat back protesters. An Associated Press reporter saw an officer drag a Muslim woman along the ground as she shouted: "Let me put my headscarf back on!"

Many in the crowd waved the Palestinian flag or others from France's former colonies in mostly Muslim North Africa.

The clashes were part of swelling demonstrations that began earlier when riot police forcibly drove back scores of protesters demonstrating outside the embassy.

Yesterday's protests came amid an international outcry over the raid by Israeli forces on ships taking humanitarian aid from Turkey to Gaza. At least nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed.