Overview

• Bruno Piriou says the flags will be given to residents on Sept. 22 to coincide with France’s planned recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN.
• The city’s website frames the initiative as support for recognition and solidarity with Gaza and the West Bank, with a distribution set at Place Galignani alongside local associations and a reminder of the town’s link to East Jerusalem.
• Local opposition figures and some residents criticize the move as electoral clientelism and say a mayor should remain neutral on divisive international issues.
• An IFOP poll for CRIF cited in coverage reports 78% of French people oppose recognizing a Palestinian state, a statistic invoked by critics of such gestures.
• The push follows Socialist leader Olivier Faure’s call to fly Palestinian flags on town halls, as administrative courts have recently ordered flag removals citing public-service neutrality.