Dublin City Council is being asked by a number of councillors to fly the Palestinian Flag in solidarity with the people of Gaza against the actions of Israel.
The Independent Group on the Council have submitted an emergency motion to fly the flag above City Hall and will be heard at Monday’s monthly meeting.
Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, People before Profit and a number of individual councillors are backing the motion which states that with the continuing “indiscriminate slaughter” taking place in Gaza the Council agrees to fly the “Palestinian flag above City Hall for a week as a sign of solidarity”.
The United Nations and the World Health Organisation are among the human rights organisations who have criticised actions of Israel in Gaza since a surprise attack by the Palestinians on October 7th in an offensive against Israel.
The Group said the support shown by the Council to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion has set a “precedent”.
The motion continues: “The support for the Ukrainian people shown by Dublin City Council in the aftermath of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine has set a precedent.
“The indiscriminate targeting of people in Gaza, similar to the indiscriminate targeting of the Ukrainian people, warrants an equivalent public display of opposition to the murder of Palestinian civilians.”
Former Lord Mayor and Independent councillor Christy Burke explained that the “ hypocrisy” of world leaders rightly condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine while supporting or ignoring the indiscriminate Israeli targeting of innocent people in Gaza is “disgraceful”.
“The world cannot stand idly by while the massacre of the people of Gaza takes place before our eyes,” Cllr Burke highlighted.
Group leader Cllr Cieran Perry outlined that more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in three weeks, including over 3,600 children.
Cllr Perry pointed out that “every effort” must be made to “stop the slaughter and tackle the humanitarian crisis” caused by the relentless assault on the population of Gaza.
“The flying of the Palestinian flag will show our disgust at the continuation of the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians, and hopefully encourage an immediate ceasefire,” he noted.
Backing her colleague, Cllr Noeleen Reilly added that dropping bombs on innocent men, women and children is “sickening”.
She said: “While the powerful allow and facilitate the slaughter, ordinary people must support our Palestinian brothers and sisters. We feel flying the flag will offer public support for the people of Gaza and increase the pressure for an immediate ceasefire”.
