Hamilton City Hall raises Palestinian flag on Land Day, sparking political debate

There’s a new flag flying at Hamilton City Hall, of a nation that was only recognized by the Canadian government six months ago.

The Palestinian flag flies high at Hamilton City Hall Monday, where advocates gathered to mark the milestone.

“Supporting Palestine does not mean that one is anti-Semitic against Israel,” said Ken Stone, the treasurer of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War. “Criticizing the state of Israel is not the same thing as anti-Semitism, just as criticizing the Canadian government is not to be uncanadian.”

Hamilton Ward 2 Coun. Cameron Kroetsch said he acted as the bridge between event organizers and the city.

“What we do with our flag policy is we try to de-politicize as much as possible,” said Hamilton Ward 2 Coun. Cameron Kroetsch. “It’s going to be reviewed and rewritten, it hasn’t gotten to that stage. I also think that this isn’t as far as I now understand it to be — specifically a religious event.”

Rich Robertson of B’nai Brith, a Jewish human rights organization, said Monday’s event is far from politically neutral.

“Flying a flag on Land Day in recognizing the Palestinian narrative as it relates to this day is the city effectively taking a geopolitical position,” said Robertson.

Land Day falls on March 30 every year, observed to commemorate the death of six Palestinians.

READ MORE: Six-month Sunday parking enforcement pilot begins in Hamilton March 29

“This is a day that has a controversial history — one that means different things to individuals on either side of the Israel-Palestine conflict,” said Robertson.

Organizers of the event said Monday being Land Day is serendipity.

“It was important for the day, for us, to be on this day, although we don’t need a day to recognize the palestinian community — it could’ve been Aug. 5., it’s just that timing was serendipitous,” said Nageeb Twal, a Palestinian Hamiltonian.

“The issue here is really the city’s overly ambiguous, and out of touch flag-raising protocol,” said Robertson.

In a statement to CHCH News, the City of Hamilton said it recognizes this as a sensitive issue and that members of the community hold deeply felt and differing perspectives.

City staff said requests for flags to be raised are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and assessed against the criteria set out in this protocol, and the request to raise the Palestinian flag was approved because it does not fall within any prohibited categories.

The City of Hamilton had previously considered implementing a Flag and Sign Policy three years ago, but that never came to fruition.

“I think cities are always trying to manage this issue of ‘what is political speech,’ ‘what is religious speech,’ ‘what is the role of the city,’ ‘how do we do these kinds of things?’,” said Kroetsch.

READ MORE: Police respond to alleged white supremacist rally at Hamilton City Hall