The French city of Lyon said Thursday, September 26, it would stop flying the Palestinian flag outside city hall after a court ordered it to end the practice, a tribute to France's recognition of a Palestinian state. Lyon, France's third-biggest city, had joined dozens of other towns in flying the flag when President Emmanuel Macron officially recognized the State of Palestine on Monday, the latest in a series of Western leaders to make the move in a bid to pressure Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza.
But the issue is explosive in France, home to western Europe's largest Jewish population, at around half a million people, as well as a significant Muslim community sensitive to the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza. Macron's government ordered town halls not to fly the flag, saying the gesture risked inflaming tension and compromising the neutrality of the civil service.
In line with a recommendation from the interior ministry, the prefecture for the Rhône department, whose capital is Lyon, took the local government to court over the issue. The administrative tribunal ruled Lyon could not fly the Palestinian flag, calling it "a serious attack on the neutrality of government services." Lyon city hall, currently governed by France's environmental party, said it would comply, but added in a statement it "reserves the right to appeal."