Providence raised the Palestinian flag to acknowledge Nakba Day, which brought the attention of many, including the mayor, Brett Smiley. A self-proclaimed recent convert to Judaism who had just returned from a trip to Israel, the mayor quickly criticized the flag-raising, calling it divisive. Notably, he did not use the same language when the Israeli flag was flown.
Soon after, he issued an executive order banning such flag raisings unless he personally approves them or the city council passes a resolution. Days later, he posted on social media proclaiming further support for the Jewish community.
“They didn’t need a policy after the Irish flag, the Italian flag, or the Israeli flag. We fly the Palestinian flag, and all of a sudden we need a policy… The mayor is ranking human life.” – Councilor Miguel Sanchez [Source]
Supporters of the new policy argue that the Palestinian flag is divisive and that only the U.S. and Rhode Island flags should be flown on government buildings. However, any flag, whether representing a culture, cause, or identity, can be seen as divisive. These arguments also ignore Providence’s traditions of celebrating its diversity, which it has a knack for expressing not only by raising flags, but also through renaming streets, painting them in colors that represent different communities and their flags, issuing specialty state license plates, sponsoring large-scale murals, and more.
By issuing an executive order against one form of celebrating diversity, we create a slippery slope that could limit the rest.
