French MP suspended for 15 days after waving Palestinian flag in parliament

ANKARA

French left-wing MP Sébastien Delogu was suspended for 15 days on Tuesday after waving a Palestinian flag in parliament.

Alma Dufour, a member of the La France Insoumise (LFI) party, called on the government during a question time session in the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, to end economic relations with Israel and to ask the UN to intervene immediately and send blue beret troops to Palestine, which is under constant attacks by the Israeli army.

Franck Riester, Minister Delegate at the Foreign Ministry, began answering their questions before being interrupted by Dufour’s colleague from LFI, Sebastien Delogu, who saluted a Palestinian flag.

The President of the National Assembly, Yael Braun-Pivet, immediately adjourned the session after describing it as “inadmissible”.

The MPs then voted to suspend Sébastien Delogu for 15 days.

“By waving a Palestinian flag, will the President of the Republic finally wake up and tell himself to stop selling weapons? Can he now request recognition of the Palestinian state?” Delogu told reporters after the meeting.

“I believe the French state is an accomplice in what is happening in Palestine today. Our group (LFI party) and I are proud to stand up for international law and the people who are currently suffering and being massacred in Palestine,” Delogu added.

France has openly supported Israel since the conflict began on October 7, but LFI members expressed solidarity with Palestine and criticized the government’s stance.

However, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “indignation” at the Israeli attacks on Rafah on Monday.

“These operations must stop. There are no safe areas for Palestinian civilians in Rafah. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire,” the president said.

The French Foreign Ministry had previously stated that it was “more necessary than ever for the UN Security Council to adopt a new resolution” on the situation in the Middle East.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 following a Hamas attack, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the enclave.

Since then, nearly 36,100 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of them women and children, and more than 81,000 others have been injured, according to local health authorities.

More than seven months after the start of Israel’s war, large parts of the Gaza Strip lie in ruins and people are cut off from food, clean water and medicine by a crippling blockade.

Israel is accused of “genocide” before the International Court of Justice. The court has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure that its forces do not commit acts of genocide and to take measures to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.

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