Decade-old Palestinian flag ban should still stand, Scottish Jewish leaders insist

In response to the outcry, Matheson said he recognised “the deep sense of anger, hurt and insecurity that this decision [to fly the flag] created among the Jewish community”, and continued: “I deeply regret that”. He added that in future, only Scottish, British and “emergency” flags would be flown above the city’s civic buildings.

Advertising its Palestine Flag Day event, Scottish Friends of Palestine wrote on social media: “Come see the flag of Palestine fly high above Glasgow City Chambers. Join our afternoon of cultural commemoration, solidarity and calls for Glasgow Council to take BDS [boycott, divestment and sanctions] action [against Israel].”

The event featured singing, traditional folk dancing, and arts and crafts.

Carmen McPherson, the newly appointed director of the Jewish Council of Scotland (JCoS) characterised the decision to host event as “gravely concerning”, given the climate of what she termed “ambient antisemitism” in Scotland and around the UK.

JCoS chair Timothy Lovat added that he was “very disappointed” with the passing of a resolution last year to raise the flag and said he had raised his concerns with the Lord Provost of Glasgow’s office.

In a joint statement, JCoS, the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said they were “troubled that Glasgow City Council’s 2024 decision to introduce an annual Palestinian flag-raising… has, in the current climate, contributed to the concerns felt within the Jewish community”.

They continued: “These developments have highlighted the need for careful, sensitive decision-making in civic spaces. As we have consistently raised with local and Scottish government, it is vital that the Israel-Palestine conflict is not imported into civic spaces in ways that risk deepening division. Local authorities should instead prioritise fostering community cohesion and mutual respect”.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council denied that the council had ever officially pledged not to fly the Palestinian flag, however.

“I don’t think our flag protocol has ever included a scenario where only three flags were flown,” he said.

“While Councillor Matheson was obviously able to express his position while he was council leader, I don’t think the council itself ever agreed any motion to this effect – or that anyone would reasonably expect that the current membership of the council would be prevented from making their own decisions, some years and two elections later”.

He added: “I think we have to consider it unlikely that many of the current representatives will be aware that Cllr Matheson made these comments – which are reported a significant time before many of them were first elected”.

The council also pointed out that part of the motion to approve the flag-raising “condemned both Hamas and collective punishment in Gaza, called out antisemitism and Islamophobia, and stressed the need for a political solution to the conflict and a pathway to peace for Israelis and Palestinians”.