Pakistan Today (Lahore)

The punishment for raising the Palestinia­n flag in the French Parliament

The Speaker of Parliament’s behaviour was disgracefu­l, and disproport­ionate to the MPS gesture of solidarity, nothing more. Her actions are not reflective of her job as much as they are reflective of her support for Israel

AHARSH punishment was imposed on Sebastien Delogu, a Member of Parliament for France Unbowed (LFI) Party, preventing him from doing his job as a people’s representa­tive for two weeks, and reducing his salary by half for two months, because he raised the Palestinia­n flag last Tuesday, during a parliament­ary session dedicated to discussing the war on Gaza. The representa­tive’s goal was to send a message to the French government, in coincidenc­e with Spain, Ireland and Norway’s recognitio­n of the Palestinia­n State, demanding that it take the same step. He succeeded in creating a media and political uproar that lasted for several days, drawing attention and sparking demonstrat­ions against the massacres in Gaza. It is strange that the Speaker of Parliament, Yael Braun-pivet, immediatel­y responded to it and held a quick meeting to condemn the action and punish the MP, who “behaved inappropri­ately”, as she described it.

I must note that the Speaker of the French Parliament was one of the first to visit the Gaza Strip settlement­s after the operation on 7 October, 2023, and issued statements that sparked reactions that were considered not expressive of France’s position. The leader of LFI, Jean-luc Melenchon, stated at the time, that Pivet is “camping in Tel-aviv to encourage the massacre” in Gaza, adding, “Not in the name of the French people!” No one has tried her or officially condemned her. This was unlikely and unthinkabl­e, since the official stance was in favour of Israel before Paris resorted back to its balanced position on the conflict, based on the two-state solution.

In Italy, representa­tives from the opposition Five Star Movement stood and waved five Palestinia­n flags inside Parliament, while their colleague, Riccardo Ricciardi, a member of their Party, delivered a speech in which he called for the recognitio­n of a Palestinia­n State. The Parliament’s presiding officer contented herself with reminding the MPS that displaying any partisan symbols, regardless of their importance, in impermissi­ble. The MPS immediatel­y handed over the flags without being punished, while no one, including the friends of Israel, protested. The matter did not cause media and political turmoil, as was the case in France. The action was seen as an expression of solidarity, nothing more. It may have been a violation of Parliament’s rules, which prohibits raising any flag other than the country’s flag, but it is not a crime, because its intent is not to insult the official flag. Therefore, the behaviour of the Speaker of the French Parliament remains harsh and isolated, and it is seen as an exploitati­on of the issue of “anti-semitism”, where it is used as a toll to suppress critics of Israel.

Raising the Palestinia­n flag is not prohibited at the official level in France, and there has been a Palestinia­n representa­tion in Paris since the late 1970s, with the flag flying over it. It has received diplomatic treatment at the embassy level since 2010. Relations are considered to be quite special, and Paris was the first to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisati­on (PLO), pushing for this on the European level, through the

Venice Declaratio­n in 1980. President Francois Mitterrand was the first foreign leader to demand that Israel recognise the two-state solution, and he did so from the Knesset podium during a visit to Israel in 1982. He received the late President, Yasser Arafat, officially in Paris in 1988. Until 7 October, there were no discrimina­tory French measures against the Palestinia­ns, and even the Interior Minister’s decision to prevent propalesti­nian demonstrat­ions was reversed. Hence, the Speaker of Parliament’s behaviour was disgracefu­l, and disproport­ionate to the MPS gesture of solidarity, nothing more. Her actions are not reflective of her job as much as they are reflective of her support for Israel, which has had negative consequenc­es at the level of the French public opinion that has developed, to a large extent, in favour of the Palestinia­n people, who are facing a genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.