Several French mayors plan to fly Palestinian flags on their town halls in defiance of government orders, as France prepares to formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly. It's unclear how many cities will join the initiative on Monday, September 22, after Socialist leader Olivier Faure's call to fly the flags, despite warnings from the Interior Ministry against such displays in a country with both Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim populations.
However, the call has been gaining momentum as Palestinian flags have been more and more visible in France over the nearly two-year war in Gaza. Palestinian banners were on display in demonstrations this week during a big day of protests across the country that criticized several polices by French President Emmanuel Macron and his government.
The war in Gaza and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict are expected to be at the top of the agenda of world leaders at their annual gathering at the UN General Assembly starting Monday. The Palestinians had said they hope at least 10 more countries will recognize the state of Palestine, adding to the more than 145 countries that already do.
Mathieu Hanotin, the mayor of Saint-Denis, the Paris suburb that hosts the national football stadium, said he will fly the Palestinian flag from the city town hall in a solidarity gesture with the Palestinian people.
In western France, the city of Nantes also plans to raise the Palestinian flag on the city hall building, Mayor Johanna Rolland, a Socialist, said. "For municipalities that wish to join, through a symbolic gesture, France's recognition of the state of Palestine, I believe it makes sense. I will do so without hesitation," she said.
In a note sent to the State's representative in regions, France's Interior Ministry instructed them to oppose the display of Palestinian flags on town halls and other public buildings, citing the risks of importing an ongoing international conflict onto national territory. "The principle of neutrality in public service prohibits such displays," the Interior Ministry said, adding that any decisions by mayors to fly the Palestinian flag should be referred to administrative courts.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau added, on Saturday: "The front of a town hall is not a billboard. Only the tricolor flag – our colors, our values – has the right to be represented in what remains, for us, a common home,"
Ian Brossat, a spokesman for the Communist Party, accused Retailleau of contradicting France's official position. "The interior minister disagrees with French diplomacy. He does not support the recognition of a Palestinian state, unlike the president," Brossat told the news channel BFM TV. "By asserting his personal beliefs instead of upholding the position of the French Republic, which is to recognize a Palestinian state, he is taking France and its diplomacy hostage."
In June, Nice city mayor Christian Estrosi, who had put on display Israeli flags on the Riviera city's town hall to show his support for hostages held by Hamas, was forced by a court decision to remove them.
The Socialist mayor of Paris suburb Saint-Ouen, Karim Bouamrane, said he would display both the Israeli and Palestinian flags on the facade of his town hall in a bid to carry a message of peace. "We are one community, the republican community," he told RMC radio. "The community I stand for is that of peace: I do not want to pit Muslims against Jews, nor activists against Hamas supporters and those against [Benjamin] Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister."