by Theo Russell, NewWorker.

Sheffield City Council, along with several other cities in England and Scotland, marked the UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29th November by flying the Palestinian flag, following a request by the PCS Yorkshire & Northeast
Home Office branch.

Branch secretary Lawrence Barfoot said: “We are delighted that Sheffield City Council has agreed to fly the Palestinian flag in solidarity with the people of Gaza and the West Bank, who are currently enduring a vicious assault by Israel.”

The branch supports the Sheffield Palestine Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, a local, multifaith organisation with the aim of making Sheffield an apartheid-free zone through boycotting, divestment and sanctions.

Three other South Yorkshire local authorities including Barnsley, along with Glasgow, Newbury and Rochdale city councils, also flew the Palestinian flag on
29th November, while Liverpool’s city council refused.

Barnsley recently made a declaration of friendship with the Palestinian West Bank city of Nablus and said in a statement that the council was “exploring ways to strengthen its cultural, educational and young people’s links” between the two cities.

The council’s Chief Executive met with political and community leaders and “gathered professional opinions from stakeholders across the city” before approving the decision.

Councillors from Sheffield’s Green Party said the decision was the result of tireless campaigning by the people of Sheffield in solidarity with the people of Palestine and called on the Labour government to impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel and to end negotiations for a free-trade agreement with Israel.

They also asked the UK to “cease aiding and assisting in the commission of violations of international law through diplomatic support for Israel, the
use of the UK Akrotiri military base in Cyprus, and intelligence sharing, reconnaissance and all other military support”, and to “investigate the Israeli ambassador to the UK, and dual-nationals returning from service with the IDF, as potential perpetrators of international crimes and grave human rights violations, including the crime of incitement to genocide”.

Unfortunately, The London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which has one of England’s
largest Muslim communities, decided to remove Palestinian flags from council buildings last March, after receiving a letter from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) that claimed that the council’s officers and managers, including the mayor Lutfur
Rahman, were personally guilty of criminal offences under the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act. Lutfur Rahman approved the removal of Palestinian flags
on council-owned buildings, on advice from the council’s chief executive.

The flying of Palestinian flags over public buildings clearly reflects the feelings of the overwhelming majority of the British people. According to an Ipsos poll in October, 73 per cent of people in Britain wanted an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and 60 per cent believed that Israel’s actions in Gaza have “gone too far”.

The Ukrainian flag has been flown on hundreds of public buildings since the Russian intervention began in February 2022, in support of the criminal, illegitimate Banderite Nazi junta in Kiev. To see the Palestinian flag being flown on a handful of public buildings in Britain is a very welcome change and a definite step in the right direction.