France's new flag war: The Israeli and Palestinian banners on town halls
The answer was no. When the local prefect asked to remove the Israeli flag displayed on Nice's town hall since the October 7, 2023, massacre, Mayor Christian Estrosi told the media that he would not comply. "This is a refusal to the government, not to the prefect," the center-right elected official told the regional daily Nice-Matin on June 17.
Estrosi, who did not respond to Le Monde 's requests for comment, said through his press office that he had "made commitments to the people of Nice that the Israeli flag, alongside the French and Nice flags, would remain on the town hall façade until the hostages held by the terrorist organization Hamas are freed and to condemn the pogrom of October 7."
Prefect Laurent Hottiaux, the local representative of the French state, had reminded the mayor of Nice, as well as all other mayors in the region, that elected officials must abide by the principle of neutrality in public services. He noted that while the presence of a foreign flag on a public building might "be tolerated in certain circumstances," it could only be for a limited time.
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