Call on Aberdeen City Council to fly the flag on November 29th!
Every year since 2013 Aberdeen has flown the Palestinian flag on 29th November to mark the UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The first year it was flown, UK Lawyers For Israel (UKLFI) attempted to prevent the act of solidarity, accusing Aberdeen City Council of breaching the Equality Act 2010.
Not intimidated by such spurious threats of legal action the then Lord Provost (George Adam) stated he was "surprised and saddened" by UKLFI's allegation that the gesture was "an attack by the City Council on the State of Israel", and the flag was flown as planned starting a tradition that has been followed by successive Lord Provosts.
That is, until this year. At a time when Palestinians are being murdered in their thousands by Israeli occupation forces, Aberdeen’s current Lord Provost (David Cameron) has taken the shocking decision to break with the tradition of the last 10 years and has confirmed that he will not fly the flag, giving the following, muddled justification;
“Thank you for your patience, as you are as aware and I the current situation in Gaza and Israel is exceedingly fluid and I wanted to wait as long as possible before deciding about 29th November 2023.
At the start of the Full Council Meeting, 11th October 2023, I made the following statement:
‘The current recent conflict in Israel and Gaza is truly worrying, of concern and will hopefully be resolved with very little, if any, further civilian loss of life. My/Our thoughts are with the innocent residents of the area. On the basis of this I chose not to fly the Israeli flag from the ACC flagpole but rather to continue flying our default flag, the City of Aberdeen flag.’
The statement given was on the basis of the following: At the early stage of the conflict my thoughts were fully for the safety of the civilian populations in both Gaza and Israel, Palestinian and Israeli civilians were at risk of harm, through no fault of their own.
Having now reached 29th November, the designated UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestine People we sadly have not reached a ceasefire in the current conflict and civilians in both communities are still suffering. The ultimate answer has to be a politically agreed, implemented and maintained two-state position. The sooner this is achieved the better for everyone.
For many years it has been the custom of Aberdeen City Council to fly the Palestinian Flag on 29th November. On the basis of the above, and recognising the current conflict is not of the making of either the Palestinian or Israeli people, for consistency, in 2023, the Aberdeen City Flag will be flown on 29th November. Thereafter, assuming a satisfactory resolution of this conflict, the Palestine Flag will be flown on 29th November each year, until such time as a stable, acceptable two-state position is established.’
SPSC, along with our partners Aberdeen Mosque and Islamic Centre (AMIC), CND North East Scotland, Aberdeen Social Centre (ASC) and Aberdeen Trades Union Council (ATUC), along with Palestinian residents of Aberdeen, have all written to the Lord Provost to challenge this shameful decision, and we urge everyone to do the same.
This year, more than ever we need to show our solidarity with the people of Palestine, and we demand that this appalling decision is reversed, and the flag is flown as in previous years, joining the global UN commemoration.
Here’s how you can take action now!
Sign and Share the online petition Petition · UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, 29th November: ABERDEEN, Fly the Flag! · Change.org
Write to/Email the Lord Provost directly Lord Provost of Aberdeen | Aberdeen City Council
Here is the text of the online petition you might find useful as a template:
FAO Lord Provost of Aberdeen - Cllr David Cameron
I understand that you have decided not to fly the Palestinian flag on the 29th of November, the UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, despite the Council having done this since 2013. I am utterly shocked by this decision and can only assume that you have not recognised the political statement this act will be, and the impact it will have on communities across the city. Flying the flag is meant to be a civic action, not a political one.
You have commented that “recognising the current conflict is not of the making of either the Palestinian or Israeli people, for consistency, in 2023, the Aberdeen City Flag will be flown on 29th November. Thereafter, assuming a satisfactory resolution of this conflict, the Palestine Flag will be flown on 29th November each year, until such time as a stable, acceptable two-state position is established.” but I would suggest that this is a flawed reasoning for the following reasons;
o There is no need for ‘consistency’ on this. There is a UN day for the Palestinian People because they are an oppressed, stateless people living under a brutal military occupation. There is no UN Day for Israel because Israel is state, and one in breach of numerous UN resolutions. It is an occupying military power that is named on the UK Government Human Rights Priority Countries list as a country of continuing concern. The state of Israel maintains full military control over Gaza and the West Bank and as an occupying power has legal obligations under international law. A few examples:
o the occupying power must ensure sufficient hygiene and public health standards, as well as the provision of food and medical care to the population under occupation.
o Collective or individual forcible transfers of population from and within the occupied territory are prohibited
o Collective punishment is prohibited
o Reprisals against protected persons or their property are prohibited
o As you will recognise from the above and the daily news from Gaza and West Bank, Israel is not fulfilling its obligations, and 2.2 million residents of Gaza have been suffering unimaginable violence and deprivations for the last 6 weeks as a result. This adds to the ongoing violations of international law including accelerated illegal settlement expansion, pillage of Palestinian resources, bombing of UN facilities and killing of UN aid workers.
o You have commented that ‘Thereafter, assuming a satisfactory resolution of this conflict, the Palestine Flag will be flown on 29th November each year’. In effect, what you are saying is that Palestinians only deserve solidarity when they are not under a full-blown attack by the occupying power that is supposed to be protecting them. You are saying that despite the fact almost 15000 Gazans, including 6150 children, have been killed by the Israel military over the last 6 weeks, you do not think it would be appropriate to continue Aberdeen's tradition of marking an international humanitarian commemoration that will be recognised across the globe.
Perhaps the most disappointing - and dangerous - part of the reasoning behind your decision is that you are in effect treating the civil population of Palestine as responsible for the actions of Hamas. That is the equivalent of holding all Jews responsible for the actions of the state of Israel, an action that I am sure you recognise would be inherently antisemitic.
The UN event is rightly going ahead on the 29th this year, and I encourage you to do the right thing and not break with Aberdeen’s tradition! Not flying the flag this year, especially considering the reasoning you have given, would set a dangerous precedent of allowing politics to interfere with a humanitarian civic act. It would be a divisive act that would reflect badly on Aberdeen City Council.
Fly the flag!