6 detained after Palestinian flag unfurled on Eiffel Tower during Nakba anniversary protest

Six people have been detained after activists unfurled a large Palestinian flag at the Eiffel Tower in Paris during a demonstration marking the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, which is described as the “Great Catastrophe” of 1948.

According to Le Parisien newspaper, members of the environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion displayed the flag on the monument’s first floor on Friday.

A police official, quoted anonymously, said the individuals were arrested on suspicion of entering a protected area without authorization and endangering the safety of others.

Prosecutors are expected to receive a formal complaint, though it was not immediately clear who would file it.

The incident prompted political reaction in France and beyond.

Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament, criticized the arrests on social media, pointing to previous political displays at the landmark.

She referenced the decision by former Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo to illuminate the Eiffel Tower in the colors of the Israeli flag following the October 2023 attacks, noting that no arrests were made in that instance.

The Eiffel Tower has also been used for other symbolic projections in recent years.

In September 2025, Palestinian and Israeli flags were displayed simultaneously on the monument in support of President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative linked to recognition of a Palestinian state.

More than 800,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced during the events surrounding the establishment of Israel in 1948—a catastrophe Palestinians commemorate annually on May 15 as the Nakba.