Concern raised at number of Israeli flags erected across Waterside area

Concerns have been raised about 'proliferation' of Israeli flags in the Waterside area amid allegations Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

The flags were allegedly raised on Tuesday night, the same day nearly 500 Palestinians were killed in a strike on a hospital.

Catherine Hutton of Derry Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign said a member of the public contacted the group about the flags.

“A member of the public contacted us, concerned about the proliferation of Israeli flags, particularly on Glendermott Road but they are displayed quite frequently in the Waterside area, and in Loyalist areas,” she said.

“I know that the reply will be 'but you fly Palestinian flags' but considering around 500 Palestinians were murdered in Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza last night and the flags went up yesterday evening it was obviously in response, it was done as a sick insult to the hundreds who were killed.

“This isn't the first attack on a healthcare facility either as well as schools and UN centres where Palestinians are trying to shelter from the constant bombardment.”

She says flags tend to be flown in bigger numbers when tensions rise in the region.

“It always seems to happen at times when Israel attacks Gaza or in response to events in Israel and Palestine. I know we fly Palestinian flags but Israel is the occupier, Palestinians are the occupied and the oppressed.

“The occupying force has a duty of care to the people of the land that they are occupying, and they are not carrying out that duty of care. They are murdering. They are bombing. They are oppressing. There's an apartheid system in place. They are committing war crimes every day. They are flouting international law every day.

“I'm not excusing what happened to Israeli civilians, I think it was horrific. What I would say is the Israeli response since then has been absolutely Barbaric.”

Catherine believes some members of the Loyalist community see a misguided 'affinity' between themselves and the state of Israel.

“There seems to be a perception that somehow they and the Israelis share some sort of affinity but they don't see the bigger picture.

“I think the Loyalist communities within Northern Ireland, in Derry in particular, I sense there's a lack of education about what is actually happening and has happened in Palestine to lead up to this.

“I'm not saying that I'm going to get through to them, but I do think that the Department of infrastructure needs to act on this and take those flags down.”

Health authorities in Gaza say it was an Israeli air strike that hit the hospital on Tuesday evening.

Israel’s military said it was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group. The group has denied responsibility.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health put out a preliminary number on the casualties suffered in the attack saying there were 471 people killed, 314 wounded and 28 in critical condition. At time of writing there were about 1,300 people still under the rubble, including 600 children.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said a total of 3,478 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air attacks, while another 12,000 people have been wounded since 7 October. At least 1,400 Israelis were killed on 7 October according to the country’s Prime Minister.

According to the United Nations, between 2008 and 8 October 2023 a total of 6,720 Palestinians and 658 Israelis had been killed in the conflict.

Raz Segal, an Israeli Holocaust and Genocide Scholar, has stated the latest assault on Gaza can be understood 'as a textbook case of genocide unfolding in front of our eyes'.

A UN human rights expert warned on Tuesday 14 October that 'Israel has gone well beyond the limits of international law' and 'in the name of self-defence, Israel is seeking to justify what would amount to ethnic cleansing.'

A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure said: “Article 87 of the Roads (NI) Order 1993 makes it an offence to attach unauthorised signs or advertisements to structures such as lamp posts.

“One of the Department’s primary considerations is the safety of the public and where unauthorised flags or attachments pose a hazard to road users, the Department will seek to remove that danger.

“Where there is no such danger, the Department will liaise closely with other key stakeholders and seek to provide a solution.”

A rally organised by the Derry IPSC will be held on Saturday at 1pm in Guildhall Square.