A councillor for the Green party in Sheffield has condemned the City council for their ‘tone deaf’ raising of the Israeli flag, as the ongoing crisis continues.
This comes following the news that two men scaled Sheffield Town Hall and dismantled the Israeli flag during the pro-Palestine rally in the city centre.
The flag was thrown from the building, and instead was replaced with a Palestinian flag, shortly after 6pm on Tuesday evening.
The footage, which was captured by protestors who can be heard cheering as the flag was taken down, has since been circulating across social media.
Alexi Dimond, the Green party councillor for Gleadless valley, said: “I think the removal of the flag was an obvious reaction. I don’t think it was a well thought out move and it was likely to inflame community tensions, which is something that we need to avoid. We can not be seen to be supporting a far right Israeli government.
“I can understand why people felt so strongly that the flag should not have been raised due to the ongoing war crimes that have been going on for years. I think the raising of the flag in the first place was a really tone deaf move by the council.”
The demonstration, which commenced at 4:30 pm on Tuesday, was to highlight that ‘Sheffield stands with Palestine’, and protestors were encouraged to bring Palestinian scarves and banners.
Cllr Dimond also said that more must be done to condemn the violence which is currently occuring in Gaza:
“We need to be consistent and say that we value all human life and that we oppose all war crimes. The only way that we can have a resolution to this situation is not through violence but through a negotiated settlement and we should not be supporting war crimes where civilians are being bombed as we speak. We need to condemn all violence to end this cycle.”
South Yorkshire Police have appealed for help in identifying the two men responsible for removing the flag.
No arrests have been made at this time.
The Red Cross Charity are currently appealing for donations to help provide aid and emergency medical teams for the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis.
They have five shops located in Sheffield as well as 2 in Doncaster, however donations can also be made online.