Several cities raise the Palestinian flag following Carney’s recognition

Since Prime Minister Mark Carney has opted to recognize a Palestinian state, several Canadian cities have now raised the Palestinian flag in their respective cities.

Source: X

Since Prime Minister Mark Carney has opted to recognize a Palestinian state, several Canadian cities have now raised the Palestinian flag in their respective cities. Some mayors opted not to attend, one mayor vowed not to let it happen again, and other mayors decided to show their support in person.

Over the weekend and Monday, five of Canada’s major cities—Toronto, Calgary, Mississauga, Brampton and Winnipeg—all held Palestinian flag-raising events honouring the 37th anniversary of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, on November 15, which was signed by the founder of the terrorist group, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Arafat.

Jewish community groups called for the event to be cancelled in Toronto, saying the declaration of independence came during a period known as the “First Intifada.” While Arafat signed the declaration, Jewish civilians were hunted down, and several PLO-linked terrorist attacks were committed against Jews globally.

B’nai Brith Canada warned that raising the Palestinian flag and recognizing November 15 as “Palestinian independence day,” would “sanitize” the PLO’s antisemitism and acts of terror.

Toronto’s city staff approved the event, saying any organization requesting a flag raising for a nation recognized by the federal government is permitted by city policy, which has been approved by city council.

A post to X by Caryma S’aad shows that as the flag was raised, protesters began chanting “Free Palestine,” and “free the people free the land, no peace on stolen land,” indicating support for an end to the ceasefire and future offensives against Israel.

At the Toronto flag-raising event on Monday, police stopped a protester from playing Canada’s national anthem over a speaker, and supporters of the man began singing the national anthem accapella in protest.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow did not attend the event, and her office has indicated that it will continue to be Chow’s policy not to attend the flag-raising events for any nation, including Israel.

A pro-Israel and pro-Western values organization, “Tafsik,” attempted to stop the flag raising through a court injunction, citing that those trying to raise the flag have been guilty of “inciting violence” through their chants and protests. Tafsik’s appeal was dismissed after lawyers from the National Council of Canadian Muslims and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians represented the Palestinian side of the debate in court.

Calgary, on the other hand, took a different approach. Recently elected Mayor Jeromy Farkas released a letter saying the Saturday Palestinian flag-raising event was to go forward this year, as it was approved by a previous council. However, starting this week, his new municipal government intends to put an end to national flag raisings as they “create division.”

“Over the past several days, Calgarians from many communities have reached out with serious concerns about how national flag-raisings, of any country, can unintentionally heighten tensions here at home,” Farkas said in a statement. “These events, even when well-intentioned, increasingly risk becoming flashpoints for conflict and for the alarming rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia we are seeing in our city.”

The Calgary event, however, featured chants of “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea,” which is a refrain commonly known to call for the annihilation of the state of Israel.

In Winnipeg, Manitoba, a Winnipeg Police officer was told to “turn around” and look at the flag while other protesters laughed, as seen in a video posted by X user Leviathan. Again, chants of “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and shouts of “Alahu Akbar” were heard in the Canadian city, an Arabic term Muslims often use meaning “God is the greatest.”

Brampton’s mayor and former federal Conservative leadership candidate, Patrick Brown, attended his city’s flag-raising event. In a post on X, Brown said the event was allowed to take place due to Carney’s recognition of a Palestinian state and that it was an “opportunity” for residents of the city to come together to do the same.

Frantic shouts of “Alahu Akbar” could be heard at the flag-raising event in Mississauga as well.

Several critics online are calling for a rule that would require municipalities in Canada to fly only Canadian, provincial, or municipal flags from public buildings.