The affair has caused a lot of ink to flow… and paint. During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, a giant Celtic cross appeared on the steps of the monumental staircase of the Butte Sainte-Anne, in Nantes. The same one that was covered almost a month ago with the colors of the Palestinian flag. The symbol was drawn in the red part, at the very top.
“The tag of a neo-Nazi symbol on the staircase of the Butte Sainte-Anne is revolting and unacceptable, reacted on X (ex-Twitter) Johanna Rolland, the mayor (PS) of Nantes, who specifies that the Celtic cross was quickly erased. The extreme right and its nauseating ideas have no place in Nantes. We fight it tirelessly. »
The president of the department Michel Ménard (PS) also expressed his indignation in the evening. “At a time when we are helplessly watching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the display of an identity symbol of neo-Nazis and neofascists on the steps of the Butte Sainte-Anne in Nantes is a shame,” he writes.
“Guarantee the neutrality of public space”
But in the ranks of the opposition, reactions are different. For municipal councilor and senator LR Laurence Garnier, the city should not have kept the flag. “If the mayor of Nantes had done what she should have done from the start, had these stairs cleaned and guaranteed to all Nantes residents the neutrality of public space, they would not have had to endure this news today. degradation with fascist overtones, she tackles on the X network. Let her take care of Nantes instead of doing counter geopolitics! »
Faced with the controversy, the municipality justified its choice not to erase the initial painting “taking into account the absolutely dramatic humanitarian situation experienced in Gaza”. “We need an immediate ceasefire to stop the massacre of innocent civilians in Gaza, which is symbolized by this Palestinian flag on the staircase,” she justified.