French towns fly Palestinian flag despite gov’t ban before recognition

Before joining several other European and Western nations in recognizing a Palestinian state, mayors all over France have flown Palestinian flags in protest of a government order to remove them.

According to its own count, France’s Ministry of the Interior said 21 town halls had raised the Palestinian flag as of Monday morning despite Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, a member of the right-wing Republicans party, telling municipal governments to observe “neutrality.” Many more municipal governments were anticipated to support the flag’s hoisting as well.

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The mayors were responding to a call from Olivier Faure, the leader of France’s Socialist Party, by pleading for the resignation of the incoming interior minister, who resigned this week.

The minister should have sought to condemn mayors who are carrying out their duty of solidarity, Faure said, “I regret that the minister found nothing to do.” How can we today refer to this as a repugnant act without condemning what is happening in Gaza? he continued.

I was present this morning aux côtés of @MathieuHanotin and @faureolivier à #SaintDenis pour hisser the drapeau Palestinien au fronton of the mairie on this historical day. #ONU pic #Palestine https://twitter.com/nimsz1NGZ

[Translation: I was present this morning in #SaintDenis with the mayor, @MathieuHanotin, and @faureolivier, to raise the Palestinian flag in front of the town hall.

The Palestinian flag was hoisted by the communist mayor of Malakoff, Jacqueline Belhomme, on Friday, refusing to remove it and calling the removal order a “prefectural coup.”

Belhomme claimed that the “something symbolically significant” is similar to what we did with the Ukrainian flag when we stood with the Ukrainian people who were being attacked by Russia.

Johanna Rolland, the Socialist Party’s mayor of Nantes, praised France’s recognition of a Palestinian state in a post on X, saying: “Nantes raises the Palestinian flag for the day in support of this historic decision by the French Republic.”

In a post on X, the mayor of a Paris suburb, Karim Bouamrane, stated that “many of us have campaigned for years for this day.” He added that we will adorn the front of the town hall with the Palestinian flag with pride.

Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has now lasted almost two years, with more than 65, 000 Palestinians killed and hundreds of thousands of injured, as evidenced by France’s announcement to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly.

At the gathering of world leaders in New York, the ongoing effort to end the conflict in Gaza is likely to dominate the proceedings.

In response to mounting pressure, France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, defended the decision, calling recognition by other nations “a great diplomatic victory for France” and “a categorical disavowal” of Hamas.

In an interview with local media, Marine Le Pen, the far-right National Rally party leader, described the decision as an “extremely serious mistake.” Emmanuel Macron recognizes Hamastan as it is today, not as it is Palestine, she said. Le Pen supported the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, according to Mathilde Panot, a figurehead of the left-wing France Unbowed party.