Police have told a council that Israeli flags are “not illegal” after it complained about their presence on lamp posts.
“There is a real perception that anybody can put up anything on a lamppost and it won’t come down. Essentially there is just a free rein where people can engage in criminal activity,” he said.
Members voted by majority to write to DfI Western Division and the PSNI about the matter.
The responses came before the most recent meeting where Councillor Donnelly criticised the police reply.
He said it was either a “misunderstanding or an attack of a strawman argument. They reference the flags are not illegal but at no stage was that ever the case we made. As far as I’m aware there’s no such thing as an illegal national flag.
“The point is the manner the flags are abused in such a way to result in the politicisation and tribalisation of public space. The point they enforce is irrelevant when we consider the response from DfI which makes it clear that they consulted the PSNI and the reason why action was not forthcoming. It was the result of a determination (PSNI) made that removal shouldn’t go ahead because it would raise community tensions.”
He continued: “This is problematic because whether or not the flag or signage is illegal is irrelevant If you cannot remove an Israeli flag – a country that for the most part has little to no relevance to the tribal divisions and history of this society – then there’s no hope for the removal of anything else where symbols are abused."