A political row has erupted in France over whether town halls should be allowed to display the Palestinian flag on Monday, the day Paris will formally recognises a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly.
The Interior Ministry has told police prefects across the country to block mayors from flying the Palestinian flag on public buildings next Monday, 22 September – the day France will formally recognise the state of Palestine.
The ministry argued that displaying the flag would breach the neutrality required of public institutions.
Prefects have been asked to take non-compliant town halls to administrative courts if necessary.
The warning comes after Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure called on mayors to raise the Palestinian flag on 22 September, when President Emmanuel Macron is due to make France’s recognition of Palestine official at the UN General Assembly in New York.
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'Taking sides'
Several local leaders – including the mayors of Nantes and Saint-Denis – have already said they plan to raise the flag.
But the Interior Ministry insists that doing so would be “taking sides in an international conflict” and would amount to unlawful interference.
The note to prefects, signed by senior official Hugues Moutouh, also highlighted “serious risks to public order” and warned of the danger of “importing an international conflict on to national soil".
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Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Faure wrote: "Prefects do not have the power to ban demonstrations. The courts will decide if necessary. A minister who has resigned should be dealing with day-to-day business, not seeking to symbolically oppose the decision taken by the President of the Republic to recognise a Palestinian state."
(with AFP)
