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8h ago

French Mayors Defy Interior Ministry, Raise Palestinian Flags on Town Halls

The government cites public-service neutrality alongside public-order risks despite France’s planned UN recognition of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian flags, in the procession of the inter-union demonstration, in Paris, France on September 18, 2025. Drapeaux palestiniens, dans le cortege de la manifestation intersyndicale, a Paris, France le 18 Septembre 2025. (Photo by Augustin Pasquini / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by AUGUSTIN PASQUINI/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images) Palestinian flags, in the procession of the inter-union demonstration, in Paris, France on September 18, 2025. Drapeaux palestiniens, dans le cortege de la manifestation intersyndicale, a Paris, France le 18 Septembre 2025. (Photo by Augustin Pasquini / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by AUGUSTIN PASQUINI/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
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Overview

  • France’s Interior Ministry instructed regional state representatives to oppose Palestinian flags on public buildings and to refer mayors’ decisions to administrative courts.
  • Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said only the French tricolor belongs on town halls, arguing the facade is not a billboard.
  • Socialist leader Olivier Faure urged municipalities to join the gesture tied to France’s planned UN recognition, with Malakoff already displaying the flag and Saint-Denis and Nantes announcing plans to do so.
  • French Communist Party spokesman Ian Brossat accused Retailleau of contradicting France’s diplomatic line on Palestinian statehood.
  • A June court ruling that forced Nice to remove Israeli flags from its city hall serves as a recent precedent cited in the current dispute.