A suburban council home to one of Sydney’s largest Muslim communities has raised the Palestinian flag outside its council building.
The flag was raised outside Bankstown Council chambers, in Sydney’s west, on Wednesday afternoon.
Canterbury-Bankstown councilor Khodr Saleh announced on Facebook that the flag had been raised.
A flag of Palestine (middle of photo) was hoisted at the council building in Bankstown on Wednesday afternoon
“The Palestinian flag now flies high outside the Council Chamber in Bankstown’s Paul Keating Park,” wrote Cllr Saleh Saleh.
‘This is for the children of Gaza. Armistice now. Liberate Palestine.’
The photo shows the Palestinian flag raised to the top of the flagpole, which stands between two Australian flags in front of the Council Chamber, which overlooks Paul Keating Park.
You’ll see locals standing and walking near the poles, with all three flags raised upwards.
The move comes after Mr Saleh, a Labor councillor, tabled a motion at Canterbury-Bankstown Council on Tuesday night calling for the flag of Palestine to be flown from both districts.
The motion was passed unanimously on Tuesday evening in favor of raising the flag, in an effort to support Palestinians in the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel, which started on October 7.
Sime councilors were absent at the time the motion for the proposal was approved.
Users were quick to respond to Cllr Saleh’s post on Wednesday, praising the move to support the Palestinians.
“Thank you Cr Khodr for validating the feelings of the residents you represent in Canterbury-Bankstown as we mourn the innocent lives lost. Free Palestine,” one user wrote.
“Great work,” wrote another.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Cllr Saleh for comment.
Canterbury-Bankstown councilor Khodr Saleh (pictured) announced on social media on Wednesday afternoon that the Palestinian flag had been raised after a motion was passed on Tuesday evening, allowing the flag to be raised
Cllr Saleh has said a space should be created in the park where the community can pay respects to those who have died in the conflict.
The space would offer locals the opportunity to lay wreaths and place flowers at the site.
He took to social media on Tuesday after the motion to raise the flag was passed, to praise being “the first city in Australia to do this”.
He said there was a “bias” among the Australian government towards Israel in the “ongoing aggression against Gaza”.
‘Tonight we proved that our city is not only the multicultural capital, but also the capital of humanity!’ He wrote.
‘Thank you to all community members and fellow councilors for your support. Free Palestine’
Cllr Saleh had previously said the motion was aimed at raising the flag in support of the Palestinians until a ceasefire was declared in the conflict.
Cllr Saleh (pictured) has also proposed creating a space in Paul Keating Park where locals in the community can commemorate those who died in the conflict in the Hamas-Israel war.
The proposal was condemned by several Jewish leaders in Australia.
Australian Jewish Association president Dr David Adler said it was “incomprehensible that any civilized people could support a gesture at this time”.
“This would be akin to flying the German flag after Kristallnacht or the Japanese flag after Pearl Harbor,” he said The Daily Telegraph.
He accused Bankstown-Canterbury Council of showing a ‘complete lack of empathy for the Jewish community’.
Hamas launched terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,400 Israelis.
Israel claims it launched around 400 airstrikes on Tuesday, with officials claiming dozens of targets were hit in the aerial bombardment.
The strikes have killed more than 700 people in the Gaza Strip, pushing hospitals to the brink of complete collapse as essential supplies such as food, water and medicine were cut off.
The bloodshed in the Middle East has fanned the flames of division around the world, including in Australia.
Two weeks ago, a pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney’s CBD descended into chaos when protesters were allowed to chant anti-Semitic slogans and burn the Star of David in front of Sydney’s Opera House.
The demonstration was hijacked by radical Muslims – some wearing black masks – who threw lit flares at police and chanted ‘f*** Israel’ and ‘f*** the Jews’ under the steps of the iconic port city.
At one point there were even cries of ‘gassing the Jews’ – a gruesome echo of the fate of millions of Jewish people under the Nazi regime.