Antwerp city workers have recently hung the flags of European Union member states at consulates or embassies in the city for a display running from June 15 to September 15, under the municipality’s official flag protocol. Police were present during the installation. The question of whether to fly the Israeli flag, during the war in Gaza, has been a source of tension in Antwerp’s governing coalition since last year.
N-VA, the party of Mayor Els Van Doesburg, says the city must stick to its flag protocol and to diplomatic guidance issued by Belgium’s foreign ministry. The party says there is no consensus in the administration to depart from those rules. Its coalition partner, Vooruit, the Flemish socialist party, has suggested alternatives, arguing that flying the Israeli flag sends the wrong message in the current context, but no agreement has been reached.
The dispute has also split the opposition. Other parties want the Israeli flag removed and replaced with a peace flag, and they back an amendment to the protocol so that flags of countries the International Court of Justice has found to be committing serious violations of international law would not be displayed. Vlaams Belang supports flying the flag. Antwerp for Palestine condemned the decision, accusing Israel of genocide and saying the flag on city hall is an insult to Palestinian victims and families in Antwerp.
The issue is set to come to the next city council meeting, where left-wing factions will submit two motions, one demanding the immediate removal of the Israeli flag and another rewriting the flag protocol to avoid similar crises. Van Doesburg and her faction are expected to defeat both measures, with support from far-right councillors who would back her against the changes.
