Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has announced that the City of Ottawa will raise the Israeli flag on May 14th to celebrate the creation of the State of Israel. It has done so since 2007. However, many people find this an insensitive and hurtful decision this year as Israel continues its murderous bombardment of Gaza. Read more....
CTIP has been copied on an email to Mayor Sutcliffe and City Councillors urging the city to reverse its decision to raise an Israeli flag on May 14th, to celebrate the creation of the State of Israel.
In accordance with established practice, “the City of Ottawa will fly the flag of any nation on its national day with whom Canada has diplomatic relations.“
But raising the Israeli flag this year, after 7 continuous months of murderous bombing of Gaza, killing nearly 40,000 men women and children, seems insensitive and insulting to those who care about human rights of Palestinians. It is especially insulting to the city’s many citizens of Palestinian origin. And because Canada does not have diplomatic relations with Palestine, according to Ottawa’s flag raising protocol the Palestinian flag would never be raised.
The letter sent to CTIP is reproduced here.
Dear Mayor Sutcliffe and City Councillors,
I am writing to express my profound disappointment and outrage at your decision to organize an Israel flag raising at Ottawa City Hall to “celebrate” the creation of Israel on May 14th. This date marks what Palestinians refer to as The Catastrophe, or Nakba, a day of immense suffering, displacement, and dispossession for the Palestinian people.
The Nakba was not a cause for celebration, but a tragic event in history where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes, their land confiscated, and their rights trampled upon. It represented the beginning of a decades-long struggle for justice, dignity, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
Your decision to commemorate this day in such a manner is not only insensitive but deeply offensive to the Palestinian community and all those who stand in solidarity with them. At a time when the state of Israel continues to perpetrate gross human rights violations and atrocities against the Palestinian people, including what many experts have labeled as genocide, it is appalling that you would choose to glorify the founding of Israel.
As a leader entrusted with the well-being and inclusivity of our city, I implore you to reconsider this decision and instead use your platform to promote dialogue, understanding, and justice for all peoples, including Palestinians. It is imperative that you stand on the right side of history and refuse to condone or normalize the ongoing oppression and violence inflicted upon the Palestinian population.
I urge you to cancel the Israel flag raising event and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with representatives from the Palestinian community to acknowledge their suffering and work towards a more just and equitable future for all residents of Ottawa.
Sincerely,
A citizen of Ottawa of Palestinian descent
cc. all city councillors.
An unfortunately biased pattern
Mayor Sutcliffe’s support of Israel and his penchant for disregarding his Palestinian constituents has been apparent for some time.
Last fall, he bathed City Hall in the blue and white colours of the Israeli flag after 1200 Israelis were killed on October 7th. However, several months later, when the Palestinian death toll had risen to many times that figure, he declined requests from the Palestinian community to use the colours of the Palestinian flag to light up city hall.
Anyone who wants to write to Mayor Sutcliffe to ask him to reconsider his inappropriate gesture can do so at mark.sutcliffe@ottawa.ca. You could copy your own city councillor at the same time. A list of city councillors with their email addresses can be found here.
Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.
Want to learn more about us? Go to Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine.ca
Canada Talks Israel/Palestine 
Thanks for this, Peter – I think it is absolutely insensitive and disgusting that the City of Ottawa is even thinking of flying the Israeli flag given the terrible situation in Palestine at tis time. Shame on Mayor Mark Sutcliffe.
May your life preach more loudly than your lips. – William Ellery Channing
>
Hello Alex, thanks for your thoughts. Remember that the city has a policy to fly all flags of countries Canada has relations with. It has been flyhing the Israeli flag on its National day for over a decade. Hard for the Mayor to walk this back. Perhaps he could absent himself.
Mr. Larson
you are the most bigoted antisemite I have ever come across.and I have come across many in my lifetime
I agree with you, Mr Larson – the Mayor can absent himself from the flying the Israeli flag on May 14th at the City Hall in Ottawa. Going forward, once the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rules that Israel has indeed committed genocide (updating its ‘plausible’ genocide ruling on January 26th, 2024), the City’s policy could be changed to not raise a flag of a country that has committed a genocide.
you idiots really need to accept the existence of Israel and that it’s not a “temporary entity” as some of the monkeys in your movement like to preach. The terrorists, whom you love for some reason (I wonder what that is) will not accept Israel – period. Israel tolerated the terrorists – as long as the terrorists didn’t engage in terrorism against them. October 7 was an invasion – and a declaration of war. It was and remains a miscalculation on the part of the terrorists and their supporters (you and your incel cronies), and that’s just sad.
every person killed is tragic. Israel has no interest in this war, but this war was brought to them, and they have a sovereign duty to see this war to its logical conclusion. And that conclusion means the Hamas leadership in Gaza will never see the sunlight again.
Thank you Mr. Ouschbaghs, for your comment
I agree that Jews need and deserve protection, in light of the thousand year old persecution of Jews in Europe. But what is the best way to protect Jews? I don’t think the idea of protecting Jews by creating a Jewish State where over a million people already were living, expelling them, and confiscating their property, and keeping them out by force – is a good idea. I don’t think it will work. There will always be fighting until Israel admits what it has done to the Palestinians and tries to work out a solution based on justice and equality.
The world has been witnessing the horror and terror that Israel is delivering in Gaza and the West Bank killing over 35,000 people, with over 15,000 children, and destroying nearly all infrastructure to sustain life. Israel has denied food, water and medical supplies from entering the Gaza Strip. Created layers of mass graves around the bombed hospitals. So the true nature of Israeli policies towards the besieged Palestinian population is now clear to the world. The genie is *fully* out of the box! Likud leadership in Israel is now causing the a new separatist movement in Israel – The State of Galilee wants to declare its separation from the State of Israel on May 14th, 2024.
When someone goes down the wrong path, one must pause , return up the path until they are where they know they must be… then continue on the right path. It takes on the responsibility of being wrong but also the responsibility of doing right.
Mayor Sutcliff and council are going down the wrong path. I am hoping they have the wisdom to turn around.