Dozens of French towns flout government warning to fly Palestinian flag

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 councillors put up the flag for 30 minutes at the city hall, despite opposition from Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo. 

The interior ministry said 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, said in a statement.

- 'Historic day for peace' -

The Communist-run Paris suburb of Malakoff has been ordered by a court to pay a 150 euro ($175) fine for each day it displays the flag.

Another suburb, Saint-Denis, raised the Palestinian flag at a ceremony attended by Socialist Party (PS) leader Olivier Faure, who said he had written to Macron asking for Retailleau's order to be rescinded.

"This flag is not the flag of Hamas, it is the flag of women and men who also have the right to freedom and self-determination," he said.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot appeared wary of being drawn into the debate on what he described as a "historic day for peace".

"I do not want... it to be used for political polemics, to divide us at a time when, more than ever, we need to be united to be strong," he told TF1 television.

The Palestinian and Israeli flags, as well as peace images of a dove and olive branch, were displayed late Sunday at the Eiffel Tower, which was illuminated in celebration of the recognition of the Palestinian state.

"Paris reaffirms its commitment to peace, which more than ever requires a two-state solution," the capital's mayor Hidalgo said on social media.

But hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) figurehead Jean-Luc Melenchon fulminated over the projection of the Israeli flag on the Paris landmark, saying that the "PS is betraying everyone at once".

Acknowledging the impassioned responses caused by his decision, which have included anger from within France's Jewish community, Macron posted a video on X on Sunday saying France wanted "peace, an immediate ceasefire and the release, without delay" of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Of the 251 people seized by Palestinian militants during their attack on Israel in October 2023, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

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