A Jewish group is urging the City of Toronto to cancel the raising of the Palestinian flag at city hall, as more than 20,000 people sign a petition saying it could “inadvertently cause division and tension.”

B’nai Brith Canada told National Post over email that the event “violates the city’s prohibition against flag raisings that promote hatred, violence, or racism.” The flag-raising is planned for Nov. 17 , in recognition of Palestinian Independence Day, which takes place two days prior.

B’nai Brith Canada wrote to the city, warning that “commemorating Palestinian independence in this way — as it was self-declared by then-Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Yasser Arafat on Nov. 15, 1988 — would sanitize the PLO’s antisemitic ideology and acts of terror.”

Richard Rober

See Full Page