More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters gather at Regina city hall after outgoing mayor cancels flag raising
Organizer expresses 'deep disappointment' after decision announced Thursday to cancel Friday ceremony
More than 100 pro-Palestinian protestors gathered at Regina city hall to chant slogans and wave Palestinian flags Friday morning.
The gathering was in place of an official Palestinian flag-raising ceremony that was to take place Friday, before the city cancelled it abruptly.
"At the direction of Mayor Sandra Masters, the flag raising and ceremony for Palestine that had been planned for tomorrow, Friday November 15, will not proceed," a Thursday afternoon email from the City of Regina said.
The email gave no explanation as to why. The mayor's office didn't respond to CBC News's request for an explanation.
Masters ran for re-election, but was defeated in Wednesday's civic election. She remains in office until Nov. 18, when mayor-elect Chad Bachynski will be sworn in.
Hafsa Naeem, a Regina resident, said she planned to attend the flag raising, but was forced by the city to protest instead.
"I was so excited. I was like, finally, the City of Regina is taking the stance that they need to. But unfortunately I have to come to the protest."
Fatema Khairy, a mother of four originally from Sudan, was at the protest Friday. She said the flag should have gone up as a symbol of support to the civilians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza.
"Why do you want to silence your citizens? The only thing we want to do is just to speak up, support other people going through difficult times," she said.
"I was surprised, and surprised that the decision was made last minute. It's kind of deceiving us."
Khairy said the protest Friday showed here there are people in the city who stand up against what she called injustice.
"I'm so happy. I'm very touched," she said. "When you see this is your community, it makes me feel very, very comfortable. I feel peaceful."
Raheela Agha, an organizer of the event planned for Friday, expressed "deep disappointment" in Masters's decision in a post on Facebook. She said the purpose of the flag raising was to commemorate Nov. 15, the date on which the Palestine Liberation Organization declared independence in 1988.
Agha said organizers ensured police would be present at the event and that the ceremony would not involve slogans, posters, chanting or speakers.
"It's essential to clarify that our request was made to honour Palestine and its people, symbolized by the Palestinian national flag, not any organization or group," she wrote.
Canada currently recognizes the Palestinian territories as separate from Israel, but not as a state.
May Elsayed, a University of Saskatchewan student, made her way to Regina to see her family and join what she said was a "monumental" moment.
"Unfortunately, a lot of people had the feeling that this was not a surprising move, despite how disappointing it may be and how sudden it came to be," she said. "At the end of the day, our governments, municipal, provincial and federal, seem to show us on multiple occasions that at the end of the day, they don't really care about Palestinians."
The organizers said they weren't contacted by Masters and that they became aware of the cancellation only through social media posts by the City of Regina. Elsayed, who is also the president of the Students for Justice and Peace at the University of Saskatchewan, said the lack of correspondence showed a lack of respect.
"We don't need specific people to make things take place and our efforts are not in vain. And we will stand by Palestine with Palestine for however long," she said.
Swift reaction
The advocacy group Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East posted on X, saying the decision to cancel the event is "disturbing" and accusing the city of giving in to complaints from pro-Israeli lobbies.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, meanwhile, applauded the decision, which it said demonstrates "strong leadership" and "moral clarity" from Masters.
"We appreciate the swift response and strong working relationships with the administration of the City of Regina and Mayor Masters," said Gustavo Zentner, the centre's vice-president for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, in a post on X.
Valerie Zink, a member of Palestine Solidarity Regina, was at the protest. She said it was one of the groups that organized Friday's protest. Zink said she believes there were "intense" threats against the mayor and city councillors from national and local lobby groups that advocated against the flag-raising.
"These tactics don't silence people. They often backfire, as we can see here today. I think there's two or three times the number of people who would otherwise have come out," she said.
"It just encourages people to educate themselves about the issue to find out what's really going on in Palestine, and it really galvanizes support for Palestine solidarity."
What the rules say
The City of Regina's flag protocol and procedure for raising another country or organization's flag consists of an online form that asks the group's name and reason for the flag-raising.
Requests must be reviewed by the office of the city clerk and meet the criteria set out in its guidelines. The office of the city clerk won't approve flags from organizations considered "controversial, contentious or divisive," but the policy does state that "commemorative celebrations" of the independence or national days of other countries "will be approved" unless a similar request has been made within the same year.
Agha said in her social media post that Masters's decision "stands in stark contrast to earlier this year," when the city allowed an Israeli flag-raising ceremony.
Regina city council heard from several delegations this summer after Israel's flag was flown at city hall May 13-14, 2024, to mark its national day of independence.
In July, city council considered further restrictions to flag-raisings. Ultimately, the decision was referred back to the city clerk for recommendations on how to proceed.
Those recommendations came back on Sept. 25, 2024, with the clerk advising that the city should stop raising flags of other nations in celebration of independence days. The only exception would be as a sign of respect to a visiting nation.
However, with a 1,000-page agenda for that council meeting, the recommendation never made it up for debate.
On Thursday, before the cancellation was announced, city clerk Jim Nichol said the flag protocol policy would be one of the first orders of business reviewed when council resumes.
"We try to find a balance. The only thing I can tell you is that the only guarantee in this is that I can't make anyone happy right now on this. It's tough," he said.
"If we could wave a wand, we would have had that policy discussed and approved by council back in September."
The city's move comes amid ongoing violence and tension in the Middle East after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel by Hamas and the subsequent invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel.
The Oct. 7 attack killed an estimated 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities, and Hamas abducted more than 250 people as hostages. An estimated 100 hostages remain in Gaza.
The Israeli campaign that followed has killed more than 43,500 people, according to Gaza health authorities, and destroyed much of the enclave's infrastructure, forcing most of the 2.3 million population out of their homes.
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With files from Colleen Silverthorn and Alexander Quon