Whether or not to raise the flag at Dutch government buildings; it is a sensitive issue. Some see the flag as a statement against Hamas’ attacks, others fear that it will only further fuel the strong polarization over the conflict. The municipality of Hilversum has decided: we won’t do it.
There is no ‘flag protocol’ for raising the Israeli flag for government buildings, which means that municipalities can choose whether or not to do it.
This has caused a lot of commotion since Hamas’s attack on Israel last Saturday.
White blue
The mayor and aldermen of Hilversum do not respond to the CIDI’s call to hoist the Israeli flag at the town hall of the municipality of Hilversum. Several parties expressed their criticism about this, including CDA and VVD.
For example, the CDA says it does not understand that the local government does not want to show solidarity with the victims in Israel, while they previously did so when Russia invaded Ukraine last year. The mayor’s official statement read: ‘The situation affected us deeply and there was a need to give symbolic expression to the solidarity felt with the residents of Ukraine through special lighting of the Council House.’
According to the CDA, it is a simple but clear means of expressing support and solidarity. They ask whether the council ‘has an idea of the impact of the attacks on the Jewish community in Hilversum’.
Difficult
The VVD also spoke out about the decision and indicated that the substantiation provided by the council does not suit their group. He indicated that ‘Hilversum has no role to play in this long-term and complicated conflict’.
In a conversation during the mayor’s breakfast, the mayor briefly spoke about it: “We are not raising the flag because we find it very difficult to find something to do with it in Hilversum.”
VVD sees it as a ‘small, but symbolically important’ statement. In doing so, they agree with the opinion of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte. He says the least you can do is hang up the flag.
CDA would prefer to see the council urgently reconsider the decision. Where they differ in opinion with the VVD, which claims that it is ‘now too late’ to raise the flag.