Jewish advocates urge Toronto to cancel Palestinian flag raising

Toronto City Hall will fly the Palestine Flag next Monday for “Palestinian Independence Day,” following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s controversial recognition of a “Palestinian State.”

Source: Pexels

Toronto City Hall will fly the Palestine Flag next Monday for “Palestinian Independence Day,” following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s controversial recognition of a “Palestinian State.”

B’nai Brith Canada, a Jewish advocacy group, is calling for the flag-raising event to be cancelled, claiming it violates the city’s prohibition against flag raisings that “promote hatred, violence or racism.”

Imane Boussaid, a spokeswoman for the city, told True North in an email that staff accepted the application according to the city’s flag raising policy, which was approved by city council.

“It provides non-profit or charitable organizations the opportunity to request flag raisings, including flags of nations recognized by Global Affairs Canada, Government of Canada, on existing courtesy flagpoles,” Boussaid said. “The City flies flags of nations recognized by the Government of Canada on its national day or on the anniversary of a special occasion.”

Carney officially recognized a Palestinian state before any of his stated conditions were met. Carney’s conditions involved a “commitment” from the Palestinian Authority to introduce reforms, hold an election, demilitarize the new state, and exclude Hamas from any governance role.

Jewish community groups and Conservatives criticized the move at the time, saying Canada’s recognition of a Palestinian state rewarded Hamas, a listed terrorist group in Canada, for the terrorist attack it led on Oct. 7, 2023, in Israel. That attack killed 1,200 Israeli civilians and left hundreds more captured as hostages. Hamas applauded Carney’s move, saying state recognition was the “fruits of October 7th,” as the deadly attack put “the world’s eyes on Palestine.”

According to Boussaid, city staff accepted a request from the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians to fly the Palestine flag and to recognize Palestinian Independence Day, which they say falls on Saturday.

On Nov. 15, 1988, Yasser Arafat, the co-founder of the terrorist Palestinian Liberation Organization, issued a “Palestinian Declaration of Independence” while serving as the active chairman of the since-disbanded terrorist group. At the same time, the PLO and its supporters committed acts of terror and violence targeting Israeli and Jewish civilians in what became known as the “First Intifada” between 1987–93.

The First Intifada was marked by PLO-linked attacks, which included hijacking planes, bombing buses and schools, and targeting Jewish institutions around the world.

“The PLO’s ideology, as espoused in the Declaration, precluded the notion of Jewish self-determination, promoted antisemitism, glorified hate-motivated violence, and perpetuated hostilities in the region,” Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s Director of Research and Advocacy, said in a statement provided to True North. “Commemorating this moment, in the context of rising antisemitism in Canada, is not only insensitive but also reckless and irresponsible.”

In a letter to the City of Toronto’s Chief of Protocol and External Relations, B’nai Brith Canada warned the city that commemorating “Palestinian independence on this day would ‘sanitize’ the PLO’s antisemitic ideology and acts of terror.”

“Canada recognized the PLO as a terrorist organization during the 1980s,” Robertson said. “Why would Toronto want to honour that legacy?”

The statement notes that in 1972, terrorists affiliated with the PLO kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes representing the country at the Olympic Games in Munich, “slaughtered them, and mutilated their bodies.”

Boussaid claimed that the city’s decision to fly the Palestinian flag “neither implies nor expresses support for the politics or policies of nations and organizations but raises the flag in recognition of those citizens or members that have made the request.”

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow did not respond to True North’s requests for comment, although her office told the Toronto Star that she would not attend the flag-raising ceremony, as it’s become her “general policy” to not be present at any national flag raising.

Chow did not attend an Israeli flag event on Israel’s independence day on May 14, 2024, or the preceding year, as she called the ceremony “divisive.”

Robertson said B’nai Brith Canada is calling on all concerned citizens to follow its lead and contact Toronto City Hall to express their disapproval of the decision.

“Our leaders should be working to bring people together,” Robertson said. “This event would not foster inclusion – it would glorify violence. The Mayor of Toronto has an obligation to represent Torontonians equitably and fairly, including Jewish Torontonians.”

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians was not immediately available for comment.