French politicians bicker over Palestinian flags outside town halls

French politicians bickered on Sunday over whether it is appropriate to hoist Palestinian flags outside town halls on the eve of the country's planned recognition of the State of Palestine.

Ahead of the landmark move, set to be finalised at the United Nations General Assembly in New York starting Monday, the government told town halls not to fly the flag and take down any Palestinian banners that they had already put up.

France is 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 Palestinian people in Gaza.

President Emmanuel Macron's decision to recognise a Palestinian state is a divisive issue at a time when French Jews have condemned a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks.

Hardline Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau argued that the hoisting of Palestinian flags "seriously undermines the principle of neutrality of public services" in France.

His office has urged local prefects to take the matter to the administrative courts - though they cannot order the police to take down the flags.

But Socialist leader Olivier Faure - whose party's support France's new government will likely need to survive - urged Macron to allow mayors' offices to fly the flag if they so wished.

"It would not only be a strong gesture towards all those committed to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but consistent with France's position internationally," he said.

Faure argued Retailleau was playing politics to undermine Macron's push for recognition.

"It is not the flag he (Retailleau) is against... It is the head of state's decision to recognise a Palestinian state," Faure told BFMTV Sunday evening.

Cheap community politics

Boris Vallaud, the Socialist Party's top lawmaker in the National Assembly, the lower house of France's parliament, also pushed back against what he called Retailleau's "incorrect" interpretation of neutrality.

He pointed out that town halls had "rightfully raised the Israeli flag" after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that began the war in Gaza, while "there are also Ukrainian flags" on some buildings in the wake of Russia's invasion.

"A flag on the front of town hall has never killed anyone, while in Gaza the Israeli army kills each day," Greens leader Marine Tondelier told a Sunday pro-Palestinian rally in Paris.

But Philippe Ballard, a lawmaker with the far-right National Rally party, accused municipalities of practising "cheap community politics" with the hoists, while his colleague Jean-Philippe Tanguy called the initiative "illegal".

Even town halls on the left are divided over the issue.

The Socialist mayor of Creteil, outside of Paris, said that he would refuse Faure's call as he had a responsibility to "preserve social cohesion".

In the capital proper, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with a projection of both the Israeli and Palestinian flags - alongside a dove of peace - ahead of the recognition move.