As French President Emmanuel Macron recognized Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), dozens of town halls across France hoisted the Palestinian flag in celebration - defying instructions by Macron's interior ministry not to do so.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced France's recognition of the State of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly, prompting several town halls across the country to raise the Palestinian flag in celebration. However, the French Interior Ministry directed local representatives to oppose the display of Palestinian flags on public buildings, citing the country's neutrality principle for public services, which prohibits political, religious, or philosophical expressions on government property.

This move has drawn criticism from local officials, such as the mayor of Nanterre, who highlighted what he sees as contradictory messaging from the government. Legal experts note that exceptions to the neutrality principle exist, particularly in cases of solidarity with peoples under attack, but the Interior Ministry maintains that the current context—marked by protests and heightened tensions over the Gaza conflict—necessitates strict adherence to neutrality to avoid further unrest.

French government, town halls at odds over Palestinian flags

I declare that France now recognizes the State of Palestine. As French President, Emmanuel Macron declared his country's recognition of the Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly. Back home, dozens of town halls across France flew the Palestinian flag in celebration. Macron's own government, however, sang a different tune. The Interior Ministry issued instructions to local state representatives, asking them to push back against the flying of Palestinian flags at town halls. It said, flying the flags contravened the neutrality principle for public services in the country. Under French law, public buildings cannot be used as a platform for expressing political, religious or philosophical opinions. Raphael Adam, the mayor of Nanterre, slammed the contradictory messaging. It's incomprehensible for me in both the actions and the words, because you can't at the same time recognize a state and have cities that truly represent the entire French community wishing to be a part of this long-awaited process and having an outgoing government that asks prefectures to oppose the raising of a flag at the moment when this state is recognized. Raphael's town hall had held a flag-raising ceremony on Monday, but has since been ordered by the Nanterre Administrative Court to take down the flag. To my knowledge, Ukrainian flags, when they were raised over town halls, were never the subject of attacks or removal measures by the prefectures. Lionel Crousseau, who specializes in French public law, says that there are exceptions to the neutrality principle. This principle of public service neutrality does not prevent a municipality from, on the occasion of certain events, displaying a certain solidarity towards, for example, a people who are the target of a military aggression, a people who are the target of a terrorist attack. We see this, for example, whether during the Arab Spring or during various events, that municipalities have been able to fly this or that flag in solidarity with certain peoples. The Interior Ministry says the war in Gaza has stirred protests and raised tensions in France, and warns that flying Palestinian flags on public buildings could risk fueling further unrest.

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Lisbon

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