(JTA) — The Dublin City Council voted to fly the Palestinian flag above City Hall in a show of support for Palestinian statehood.
Forty-two councilmen in the Irish capital voted in favor of the motion, 11 voted against and seven abstained on Monday evening.
The flag reportedly was raised over City Hall and will remain there until the end of the month. The date had been brought forward from May 15, the day on the Gregorian calendar that Israel became an independent state, and the day referred to by Palestinians as Nakba Day. In Arabic, Nakba means “catastrophe.”
An alternative resolution calling for both the Israeli and Palestinian flags to fly in acknowledgment of “the suffering of civilians on both sides” was defeated.
Ireland is rumored to be ready to recognize a Palestinian state. It was the first European country to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization and has traditionally been one of Israel’s harshest critics in the European Union.
The resolution said flying the Palestinian flag is “a gesture of our solidarity with the people of Palestine living under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, with the Palestinian citizens of Israel denied basic democratic rights and with the over 7 million displaced Palestinians denied the right of return to their homeland.”
