French parliament suspends lawmaker for waving Palestinian flag

The French parliament has suspended a left-wing lawmaker for two weeks after he held up a Palestinian flag during a heated debate over whether France should recognise Palestinian statehood.

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

Parliament speaker Yael Braun-Pivet denounced what she called his unacceptable behaviour, and lawmakers voted to suspend him for two weeks and cut his parliamentary allowance by half for 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 Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognised Palestinian statehood in a coordinated decision that has infuriated Israel.

'No longer taboo'

Their move brings to 145 out of the 193 UN member states that have recognised a Palestinian state.

But no member of the Group of Seven industrial powers including France, the United Kingdom and the United States have done so.

French President Emmanuel Macron in February said recognising a Palestinian state was no longer "taboo".

But Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in the lower house on Tuesday dodged a question from another LFI member of parliament about whether France would soon join its European allies in doing so.