Council flying Palestine flag 'a significant and meaningful event' – if hastily organised

Amid chants of ‘free free Palestine’ at 11am today Wollongong Council responded to a request and hoisted the flag of Palestine outside the council chambers. About 30 supporters attended but expressed disappointment that the rushed event prevented many more from being there.

In a statement, Lord Mayor Cr Tania Brown said today’s flag raising followed a decision taken by Council in August to “acknowledge the anguish and pain caused by the ongoing conflict in Palestine and Israel to members of our local community”.

Friends of Palestine gathered peacefully for the informal flag raising. Council decided there would be no formalities or ceremony. South Coast Labour Council leader Arthur Rorris showed his support, as did the 2023 Wollongong Citizen of the Year, Sally Stevenson. The Lord Mayor, Cr Andrew Anthony and local state MP Paul Scully were also in attendance.

“Wollongong is a city committed to peace, inclusion and respect,” the Lord Mayor said in a statement. “Flying the Palestinian flag is a symbolic gesture that recognises the contributions of our Islamic community and our shared hope for a peaceful future.”

Friend of Palestine Yossra Abouelfadl welcomed the change of heart by Lord Mayor Brown. At the August meeting of Council, after a debate over whether Council should raise the Palestinian flag, the Lord Mayor’s casting vote, when the votes were tied, was to oppose the gesture.

“This is a significant and meaningful event,” Yossra said.

But upon hearing of the flag raising only yesterday, she wrote a letter to the Lord Mayor and councillors expressing her disappointment that the decision to raise the flag today appeared to be rushed, taking place without proper consultation, and giving the Friends of Palestine just 24 hours' notice. She said even Greens Cr Kit Docker – who proposed flying the flag in August – was unaware of today’s event. Yossra said she only became aware of it when Council staff rang around trying to find a Palestinian flag.

“The way this decision has unfolded has created confusion, disappointment and concern within our community,” Yossra wrote in her letter to the Lord Mayor. “Raising the Palestinian flag is not a small gesture. For this action to be meaningful it must be done openly, transparently, and in partnership with the community it seeks to acknowledge, not quietly or without ceremony.”

In her letter, Yossra said Council’s decision to raise the flag today and to keep it flying across the weekend to coincide with a pro-Palestine rally on Sunday across the Sea Cliff Bridge “means no one from our community will be present, which only deepens the feeling this was not organised with us, but around us”.

She appealed to the Lord Mayor to postpone the flag raising for one to two weeks to give those who have supported the Palestine cause enough notice to make arrangements to attend.

“We believe if Council wishes to take this step now, it should be done in a way that demonstrates genuine respect, transparency and acknowledgement of the people who have carried this cause forward locally.”

Those in attendance were pleased to see Palestine’s flag replacing the Wollongong City flag on Burelli Street for the next three days.

“We have been working since 1948 to get this flag flown here and so we will take what we can get,” said union leader Arthur Rorris.