Showing a Palestinian flag does not
make someone a Hamas supporter, Democratic Party (PD) leader
Elly Schlein told an ANSA forum on Monday when asked about
Bologna's PD Mayor Matteo Lepore hanging one from a window in
the city's town hall.
"I support Bologna Mayor Lepore," said Schlein, whose American
father is of Jewish descent.
"I think that displaying the flag in no way amounts to
supporting terrorism.
"Equating Hamas and the Palestinian people does not help to
isolate Hamas".
Italy's Jews said Lepore's move legitimised the terrorism of
Islamist militants Hamas who sparked the Gaza war with their
brutal attack on Israel on October 7.
"If you really want to emphasise respect for human rights and
peace, don't just display one flag but display both.
"A flag in a public place cannot be used as a symbol of
contestation of other countries," the president of the Union of
Italian Jewish Communities Noemi Di Segni, together with the
president of the Bologna Community Daniele De Paz, told ANSA.
"Such a gesture from a public institution only legitimises the
voice of terrorism and prevarication", they said, adding: "We
invite (Mayor Matteo) Lepore to visit Israel in the areas of the
(Hamas) massacre before displaying flags and slogans".
Announcing the move, Lepore said Bologna would fly the Israeli
flag too if and when Tel Aviv ends its controversial campaign in
Gaza which has killed over 36,000 civilians, according to the
Gaza Health Ministry.
In the October 7 attacks Hamas killed almost 1,400 people and
took some 250 hostages.
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