Israeli flag-raising in major Canadian cities spurs outrage amid Gaza war
Al JazeeraRights advocates say decision to fly Israeli flags on country’s independence day ‘completely inappropriate’ and hurtful. A decision by some major cities in Canada to raise Israeli flags to mark the country’s Independence Day has spurred outrage, with Palestinian rights advocates saying Israel should not be honoured as it wages a deadly military assault on the Gaza Strip. “As Jews, we say not in our name – it’s not our flag, we’re not the same.” View of Israeli flag rising at Toronto city hall from Nathan Phillips, where a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters did their best, from an enforced distance, to disrupt it pic.twitter.com/zNWVKCV9Lq — David Rider May 14, 2024 The flag raisings come as Israel continues to bombard the Gaza Strip, killing more than 35,000 Palestinians since the war began in early October. Amid global protests demanding a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, Palestinian rights advocates in Canada also noted that the Yom Ha’atzmaut flag-raising events come a day before what’s known as Nakba Day. Leilani Farha, an Ottawa-based human rights lawyer and former United Nations special rapporteur on the right to housing, said raising the Israeli flag at this time “is completely inappropriate and deeply hurtful”.
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