Paris beach event celebrates Tel Aviv, amid extra security and criticism

A volunteer installs a sun umbrella on the sand as part of the Paris Tel Aviv Beach on the banks of the Seine River in Paris, France, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015. Paris is deploying hundreds of police to protect an urban beach event honoring Tel Aviv that has turned from a summertime celebration into a geopolitical hot potato. Leftist politicians and pro-Palestinian activists wanted it cancelled amid anger over a Jewish extremist attack that killed a toddler and his father in the West Bank. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

prev next

A French police officer arrives at the Paris Tel Aviv Beach on the banks of the Seine River in Paris, France, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015. Paris is deploying hundreds of police to protect an urban beach event honoring Tel Aviv that has turned from a summertime celebration into a geopolitical hot potato. Leftist politicians and pro-Palestinian activists wanted it cancelled amid anger over a Jewish extremist attack that killed a toddler and his father in the West Bank. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

A volunteer installs a sun umbrella on the sand as part of the Paris Tel Aviv Beach on the banks of the Seine Rive in Paris, France, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015. Paris is deploying hundreds of police to protect an urban beach event honoring Tel Aviv that has turned from a summertime celebration into a geopolitical hot potato. Leftist politicians and pro-Palestinian activists wanted it cancelled amid anger over a Jewish extremist attack that killed a toddler and his father in the West Bank. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

PARIS – Paris has deployed hundreds of extra police to protect an urban beach event honoring Tel Aviv, after it turned from a summertime celebration into a geopolitical hot potato.

Leftist politicians and pro-Palestinian activists wanted it canceled amid anger over a Jewish extremist attack in the West Bank. But Paris city hall stood firm.

City authorities said extra police will protect the one-day event Thursday on the banks of the Seine River. It's part of a larger summer event called Paris Plages that transforms quayside city streets into beaches.

Protesters plan a rival "Gaza Plage" event Thursday near Notre Dame Cathedral.

Paris remains on alert after Islamic extremist attacks in January. Unrest in the Mideast sometimes translates into tensions in France, home to large Muslim and Jewish populations.