PARIS/ROME: The French parliament on Tuesday suspended a ‘left-wing’ lawmaker for a period of two weeks. The lawmaker held up a Palestinian flag, during a ‘heated debate’ over whether France should recognise Palestinian statehood.

Sebastien Delogu, a member of parliament representing the radical-left ‘France Unbowed’ (LFI) party (from the southern city of Marseille), stood up with the flag during questions to the government.

The speaker of the house, ‘Yael Braun-Pivet’ denounced what she termed as his unacceptable behaviour. Lawmakers then voted to suspend him for a period of two weeks and cut his parliamentary allowance by half, for a period of two months.

Delogu left the lower chamber making a ‘V-sign’ (for victory), as right-wing and centrist lawmakers inside applauded the sanctions against him.

His suspension came on the day that Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognised Palestinian statehood. The coordinated decision has ‘infuriated Israel’.

Their move brings the number of UN member states which have recognised a Palestinian state to 145, out of the total 193 states’. However, no member of the ‘Group of Seven’ industrial powers which includes France, the United Kingdom and the United States have done so, so far.

The French President, Emmanuel Macron had stated in February that recognising a Palestinian state was no longer “taboo”. However, on Tuesday, Prime Minister ‘Gabriel Attal’ dodged a question from another LFI member of parliament, regarding whether France would soon join its European allies in doing so.

The assault on the Gaza Strip has sparked tensions in France, which is a country with the largest Jewish community of any country, after Israel and the United States. In addition to this, France is also home to Europe’s largest Muslim community.

Palestinian flags raised in Rome

On Tuesday, a number of lawmakers from the Italian opposition ‘Five Star Movement’ brandished Palestinian flags, amidst a dialogue pertaining to the crisis in the Middle East.

MPs raised five flags and a ‘peace flag’ in the lower ‘Chamber of Deputies’, as their colleague ‘Riccardo Ricciardi’ was speaking. The lawmakers advocated for Italy to formally recognise the state of Palestine.

“We must never be afraid to recognise a community’s chance to rally around a flag” according to Ricciardi. He condemned the “double standards” of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s ‘hard-right’ government. He was referring to the government prerogative of ‘expressing support’ for a two-state solution for the Palestinians and Israelis but ‘abstaining’ on a UN resolution earlier this month, which called for ‘full Palestinian membership in the global body’.

The Chamber’s presiding officer reminded MPs that ‘partisan symbols’ are not permitted inside, after which the ‘Five Star’ MPs handed over the flags to the parliamentary officials (after a few seconds).

No immediate sanctions were announced. A spokesman for the chamber told reporters’ that the speaker’s office ‘would look into the case’.

On the subject of formally recognising Palestinian statehood, the Italian Foreign Minister ‘Antonio Tajani’ stated that such initiatives were “not useful” for a resolution to the conflict.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2024