The projection on the Eiffel Tower of a luminous sign with the flags of Palestine and Israel, with a peace dove between them, has sparked a bitter controversy in Paris amidst the countdown to the official recognition of the State of Palestine by French President Emmanuel Macron at the UN General Assembly.
"Paris reaffirms its commitment to peace, which now more than ever goes through the two-state solution," wrote Paris Mayor, the socialist Anne Hidalgo, on the social network Bluesky, stating that the luminous display was a sign of "support for the President's initiative".
"We are facing a terribly stupid and unpleasant act," replied the leader of La France Insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon. "Hidalgo has joined the great tradition of wrong moves by the Socialist Party, which has betrayed everyone at the same time."
LFI deputy Aly Diouara went even further in his criticism: "Associating the Palestinian flag with that of a state that bombs, starves, and massacres the population is not an act of peace. It is normalizing genocide. It is a cowardly and ignominious act."
The Eiffel Tower controversy coincided with tensions caused by the display of Palestinian flags in over 50 French municipalities, despite the ban decreed by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, leader of the conservative party Les Républicains, citing "the principle of neutrality of public services."
Socialist leader Olivier Faure, on his part, urged municipalities with a majority of his party to fly the flag on September 22. Faure personally asked President Macron to intervene in the controversy so that the local support signal for his decision to recognize the state of Palestine could be made without incidents.
"Far from political instrumentalization, our responsibility is to renounce silence and do everything in our power here and now to end this horror," declared socialist mayor of Rennes, Natalie Appéré. "Nantes supports this historic decision of the French Republic and will raise the Palestinian flag for a day," declared socialist mayor Johanna Rolland.
"This is a decision more human than political," argued communist mayor of Tarnos, Marc Mabillet. The also communist mayor of Stains, Azzédine Taibi, also justified the display of the Palestinian flag alongside that of the UN and the peace flag.
The municipalities of Malakoff and Bezons anticipated the date, raised the Palestinian flag since September 18, and were forced to remove them from their facades by a court order and under police surveillance. Malakoff Mayor Jacqueline Blehomme, from the French Communist Party (PCF), denounced what she considered "a police show of force" and recalled how dozens of municipalities have flown the flag of Ukraine since the Russian aggression "and have never been forced to remove it."
Karim Bouamrane, mayor of Saint-Ouen, north of Paris, ordered the display of five flags on the Town Hall facade (French, European Union, Palestine, Israel, and Peace). "We are supporting a joint call to peaceful Palestinians calling for the recognition of their state and to Israelis fighting for the removal of their prime minister," declared the socialist councilor.