What’s wrong with citizens taking streets under a Palestinian flag? Europe debates its meaning

Symbols at European demonstrations

The Palestinian flag and keffiyeh have appeared at recent demonstrations across Europe, including protests about housing, education and the cost of living. High school students, backed by university and teacher associations, trade unions and some politicians, have called for more affordable, higher-quality education, improved schools, smaller classes and more teachers.

Kenny Pierre Agboton, of the Free University of Brussels for Palestine platform, said the flag signals opposition to colonialism and repression. He said his association works with similar groups at other Belgian universities and usually provides one flag to each association during nationwide demonstrations.

A student said the protests concerned more than young people’s immediate circumstances, describing them as resistance to attacks on rights and to capitalism and colonialism. The article does not identify the student by name.

Different national associations

The symbols’ anti-colonial message does not resonate with every protest movement or in every country. In Albania, one speaker said some people connect the Palestinian struggle with Muslim identity and associations with the Ottoman Empire.

The speaker linked this perception to Albania’s communist period, saying Muslims were expected to become emancipated and Western-oriented, and that this history helps explain why many Albanians remain strongly pro-American. He said that, for some, support for the United States also entails support for Israel.

Concerns over competing causes

The article notes that some violent protesters have also carried Palestinian symbols, contributing to unease about their presence at demonstrations. It quotes a writer arguing that Palestinians are left to distinguish between people who misuse the flag and students or academics who raise it in solidarity.

That writer said the flag’s original meaning can be obscured when it becomes attached to disputes over identity, immigration, religion and security. Janine di Giovanni, a journalist and head of The Reckoning Project, was in the West Bank on October 18, documenting violence against Palestinian families during the olive harvest. In a Facebook post about French protesters, di Giovanni asked people, “please don’t link your struggle to Palestine,” while describing daily violence in the West Bank.