Oxford City Council has suggested it is unable to fly the Palestinian flag over its town hall while the "flagpole is broken".
The local authority previously flew the Ukrainian flag as a "one-off request" on its 1930s extension pole and lowered its city flag half-mast to mark the loss of Israeli life on October 7 and condemn Hamas.
Independent city councillor Amar Latif said: "It is disappointing that the council seems not to have prioritised the fixing of the flag pole in order to recognise the devastating killing of 24,000 civilians in Gaza, more than half of whom are children and women.
READ MORE: Emma Watson lecturers sue Oxford University over contracts
"I do sincerely hope the council's lack of action is not politically motivated.
"The lack of flag flying over the town hall contrasts vividly with the Ukraine war."
Dr Latif fell out with the Labour Party in October over its leader's stance on the Gaza conflict.
Oxford is twinned with the Palestinian city of Ramallah, which serves as the administrative capital of Palestine.
Dr Latif added: "We’re now 100 days on from the bombardment of Gaza, famine and disease is taking hold."
Today marks one year since #Ukraine was invaded by Putin. To mark the day and pay our respects, we will observe a minute of silence at 11am today.
— Oxford City Council (@OxfordCity) February 24, 2023
We are also flying the Ukrainian flag over @OxfordTownHall to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/crwh3esofw
Independent councillor, Sajjad Malik, of the Temple Cowley Ward, had asked at a full council meeting on November 27 "when the council" would "half-mast the city flag".
City council leader Susan Brown responded: "My understanding is the flagpole we would generally use is the main flagpole and it is that one that is out of order.
"We hope to get it repaired sometime soon."
Ms Brown referenced "strict planning permission" as a reason why flag flying was not possible elsewhere.
A city council spokesman said this week: "Oxford City Council maintains three flagpoles used for flag flying on specific occasions.
"These are located on the town hall, the town hall extension, and Carfax Tower.
"The pole on the town hall, which is used exclusively to fly the city council's flag, is currently out of action pending repair, but the other two are still being used to mark pre-determined events and commemorations."
The spokesman later added: "When the flagpole is fixed we will fly the city flag at half mast, as we did in October, to reflect our sorrow and distress at the loss of life in Gaza."
The flagpole above the entrance to the town hall is the original pole, installed when the building opened in 1897 and it was previously out of inaction in 2016.
A city council spokesman said at the time that people had mistakenly suggested the Union Flag was not being flown to mark the Queen’s birthday but added it was "flying in Carfax Tower to mark the occasion".
It also flew the flag of England above the 1930s extension to the town hall to mark St George’s Day.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel