Gaza Genocide23 September, 20262 min read
Vénissieux Mayor Idir Boumertit Removes Palestinian Flags After Prefecture Threatens Court Seizure
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Mayor Boumertit hoisted two Palestinian flags on Vénissieux city hall on Sept 22. Rhône prefecture threatened to seize the administrative court unless flags were removed.
8 outlets told this the same way.
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Flag Raised, Then Removed
Idir Boumertit raised Palestinian flags on the town hall facade in Vénissieux, near Lyon, eastern France, in a video he posted on his social media accounts on Tuesday, September 22. The Rhône prefecture contacted Boumertit in the afternoon and asked him to remove the Palestinian flags “in the interest of public service neutrality,” according to the prefect’s entourage told Le Figaro.
Boumertit removed the Palestinian flag from the Vénissieux town hall pediment on Wednesday, September 23, after the prefecture threatened to seize the administrative court. The prefecture expressed explicitly to the mayor of Vénissieux to remove the flag “in order to uphold the neutrality of the public service.”
Residents and Legal Pressure
A resident in Vénissieux disagreed with the Palestinian flag on the town hall, saying, “I am against it; it is not something to put on a town hall.” A resident considered the gesture a “bias,” saying, “when you are the mayor, you are the mayor for everyone, you should not take a particular side,”.
The Rhône prefecture told the mayor to remove the flag without delay for neutrality of public buildings, and Europe 1 said the prefect warned of administrative court seizure if he did not act. Le Progrès said Boumertit told it he intended to remove the flag as early as Wednesday, September 23, and he framed the gesture as marking “this day with this ceremonial gesture.”
Precedent and Stakes
The stand-off in Vénissieux ended when the Palestinian flag installed on Tuesday was removed on Wednesday, September 23, by the municipality in accordance with the Rhône prefecture’s request. An administrative court condemned the rebellious mayor to a daily fine of 100 euros in Vaulx-en-Velin for the same reason of neutrality of public services.
The Vaudais deputy-mayor’s Palestinian flag stayed in place for ten days and led to a procedure before the administrative court and a 600-euro fine, with the court deeming the initiative “a serious infringement of the principle of neutrality of public services.” State services considered taking the Vénissieux case to the administrative court if Boumertit refused, but the Palestinian flags were no longer flying over Vénissieux City Hall by Wednesday morning.