Dozens of French towns flout government warning to fly Palestinian flag

More than 80 town halls in France hoisted the Palestinian flag today ahead of the recognition of a Palestinian state by President Emmanuel Macron in defiance of a government warning not to do so.

Macron is to recognize a Palestinian state on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, joining other countries in a move that has angered Israel.

Palestinian flags were raised at town halls in major cities across France — including in Lyon, Nantes, Rennes and Besancon — in defiance of an order by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau. Even in Paris, left-wing city councilors put up the flag for 30 minutes at the city hall, despite opposition from Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo.

The interior ministry says that 86 town halls out of 34,875 across the country had flown the Palestinian flag.

Retailleau, leader of the right-wing Republicans Party, sent out a circular last week demanding “neutrality” from public authorities and calling for any decision to fly the Palestinian flag to be referred to the courts.

The standoff has underlined social and political tensions in France since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas that set off the Gaza war.

France is home to Western Europe’s largest Jewish population, about half a million people, as well as a significant Muslim community sensitive to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.

“Our responsibility is to reject silence and to do everything in our power, here and now, to put an end to the horror,” Nathalie Appere, the Socialist mayor of Rennes, says in a statement.