Video: Paris in the (Arab) Spring

Muslim demonstrators were thwarted by police yesterday in their attempts to breach the perimeter of the American embassy in Paris. The video below is taken from a French TV news report.

Many thanks to Michael Laudahn for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:France 24 posted an article in English about the same incident:

Paris Police Detain 100 at US Embassy Protest

Police in Paris detained around 100 people Saturday for taking part in an unauthorised, impromptu demonstration near the US embassy against a provocative anti-Islam film, police said.

Dozens of men, women and children who police said were possibly linked to Salafists, "demonstrated violently around the US embassy and clashed with police” on Saturday afternoon.

Two or three officers were slightly hurt in the protest. Most of those detained were men, said police.

The president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) denounced the Paris protest.

"We regret that this demonstration occurred, especially if violent force was used against the police,” Mohamed Moussaoui told AFP.

"One should not associate all of France’s Muslims with marginal events like this,” he added.

"Muslims should use fair and lawful means to defend their religion. This message was relayed by imams at mosques during Friday prayers,” he said.

France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim community.

The last several days have seen a wave of anti-American protests across the globe, sparked by the US-produced "Innocence of Muslims” film.

The film, excerpts of which were posted on the Internet, have offended many Muslims because of its insulting depiction of the Prophet Mohammed.

Islamic law prohibits any depiction of the prophet.

The protests, which started on Tuesday, have cost several lives and seen mobs burn US missions, schools and businesses as well as the embassies of some western countries.