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French Mayor Hung Israeli Flags and a Hostage Banner on City Hall
(Times of Israel) Robert Sarner - Over the past two years, the Mayor of Nice, France, Christian Estrosi, has been among France's most vocal elected officials calling for the release of those kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7. Until recently, at the main entrance to City Hall in the French Riviera city, there was a large, vertical banner with photos of the 48 Israelis still being held at the time by Hamas in Gaza, with text demanding their release. Until this summer, on the building's main balcony outside Estrosi's third-floor office, eight Israeli flags had pride of place alongside their French and EU counterparts. Estrosi had the Israeli flags installed there following the Oct. 7 atrocities in Israel. When an administrative court ordered them removed four months ago, Estrosi erected the hostage banner at City Hall. Estrosi, 70, said in an interview: "My position on this issue...comes from my commitment to justice and the fight against barbarism, antisemitism and anti-Zionism. I consider it my duty to humanity and civilization to protect the values I share with Israel and what they represent in the history of humanity. Today, that includes defending them in the face of so much hate and adversity." "Because of the stand I take, I'm subjected to insults and attempts at intimidation, including death threats against me....But I've always said very clearly that nothing will cause me to be intimidated. You always lose a war when you're afraid. That's what I say to my Jewish friends. I tell them, 'Don't be afraid in Nice. I'm here to protect and defend you. I refuse that one should be afraid to be Jewish in Nice.'" "For me, antisemitism is a poison. In the middle of the last century, and in other periods of history, it has shown itself the worst insult to humanity....Today, I have the impression we're in the process of returning to the 1930s and I fear antisemitism will continue to grow in France." "With Israel on the frontlines fighting Islamist terrorism, it's a rampart for our country, protecting us. Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, is being attacked and is defending itself. Our duty is to be by its side and when one is a public official, like me, to affirm that." In July 2016, a Tunisian man drove a truck through crowds at a Bastille Day celebration on Nice's seaside promenade, killing 86 people and injuring hundreds of others.