The Palestinian flag will fly above City Hall in Dublin this month after councillors overwhelmingly voted to support the move, backing what they called communities living under “apartheid, worse than South Africa.”
People Before Profit councillor John Lyons proposed the motion to fly the Palestinian flag to coincide with Israel’s Independence Day celebrations and mark 50 years of Israel’s presence in the West Bank, according to the Irish Times. Cllr. Lyons cited “solidarity” and spoke of “Palestinians living under occupation which is a brutal life really,”
Some of Judaism’s holiest sites are located in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and Western Wall in Jerusalem; the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron; and Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.
Cllr. Lyons said the move would show solidarity with people living with “apartheid, worse than South Africa”. His motion was carried with 42 councillors in favour, 11 against and seven abstentions. It was widely celebrated on Twitter:
In a letter to city councillors ahead of the meeting, Israeli ambassador Ze’ev Boker said the Palestinian flag would be “highly politically charged” and demonstrate a one-sided approach by the council to the conflict.
“Dublin has a long and proud tradition of welcoming new communities, and I know of many Israelis who have come to Dublin for work reasons and decided to stay,” he wrote.
“We must ask what kind of message such a gesture sends to these Israelis who are proud to now call Dublin their adopted home?
“I also know that some members of the Irish Jewish community are concerned by the negative message that the flying of the flag promotes.”
This is not the first time the Irish capital has been the center of controversy over the existence of the State of Israel.
As Breitbart Jerusalem reported, last month the Israeli Embassy in Dublin said it was “concerned” by a “disturbing trend” of local initiatives targeting the Jewish state after Trinity College Dublin (TCD) was confirmed as the location for an anti-Israel, pro-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) academic conference.
An embassy spokesperson said the scheduling of the meeting of a group called “Academics for Palestine” (AfP) for the week before Rosh Hashanah in September was only the latest in a number of upsetting incidents, including the decision to fly the Palestinian flag above City Hall.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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