PARIS (Reuters) - Thousands gathered across France on Saturday to call for an independent Palestinian state after Israelis thrust into Palestinian cities and smashed into the compound of their leader Yasser Arafat.

Protesters gathered in Strasbourg, Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux, shouting slogans such as "Free Arafat," "Respect Palestinian rights" and "No peace without justice."

Some 2,500 people marched past the European Parliament and Court of Human Rights in the northeastern city of Strasbourg, waving Palestinian flags and chanting "Bush, Sharon assassins, Europe accomplice," referring to the U.S. and Israeli leaders.

Protesters carried scrolls marked with an alternative "10 Commandments," including "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's land" and "Thou shalt dissolve Zionism."

"This demonstration is not meant to transport the Middle East conflict to France but to show our support for Palestinians," said Mohamed Latreche, President of the Party of Muslims in France which organized the march.

A brief quarrel broke out before the march started between organizers and a small group from Germany intent on shouting violently anti-Semitic chants, a Reuters reporter said.

In Lyon, where masked vandals smashed cars into a synagogue earlier on Saturday and then set them ablaze, at least 5,500 gathered in the main square shouting "No peace without justice."

In Paris around 1,000 demonstrators called for an international protection force for Palestinians.

Some 2,000 people marched to the Israeli consulate in the southern city of Marseille, yelling "Free Arafat," and "Sharon SS."

"I'm marching today because both peoples are in danger," Mireille Tal Delamarre, member of the Union of French Jews for Peace, told Reuters.

"The decision taken by Sharon's government goes against security for Israel... It is moral suicide," she added.

France, one of the first western countries to advocate the creation of an independent Palestinian state, has condemned attacks by Israel on Arafat's compound.

President Jacques Chirac on Saturday repeated an appeal to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's and Arafat's sense of responsibility to do everything possible to halt the violence. He insisted the Palestinian leader remained a legitimate authority.