Geographically speaking, Gaza is located about 5, 800 miles—about 9,300 km—away from Montreal, Canada. It would likely take two, or even three, airplane flights to get there. Yet, a 39-year-old Québecker got too passionate about the Israel-Hamas conflict that he torched an Israeli flag in front of Hampstead town hall, twice not just once. He even bragged about it on social media (https://tinyurl.com/5n72ynfc; https://tinyurl.com/58y6v5zk).
But, to begin with, why does the city of Hampstead still have the Israeli flag outside of town hall, one may wonder? It seems that this was the choice made by the Mayor et al. on October 7, 2023.
As a reminder, on the tragic 7th of October, 2023, a large number of innocent Israeli civilians were the victims of a horrible massacre: deaths (about 1200!), rapes, injuries, kidnapping from out homes or from a musical festival, and acts of indignity to dead bodies. The rest of the story is part of the current tragic history of a cruel ongoing war against Hamas taking place in Gaza, which has lead to: (1) surreal proportions of mass destruction, a shocking number of deaths (over 60,000!), awful injuries, suffering beyond words, famine, etc.; and (2) it is estimated that about 20 Israeli hostages remain alive in captivity (https://tinyurl.com/kkjdhecx).
To come back to Hampstead, its mayor claims that his administration did not receive any complaint. However, like anything else in this world, the gesture of raising the flag of Israel outside town hall is probably welcomed by some and unwanted by others. Indeed, it seems that there is a petition that has circulated among some residents, demanding the removal of the Israeli flag (https://tinyurl.com/bdhrd73r). Bambi is unsure of the precise number of those who dislike the display of this flag. Who knows? Perhaps there are residents who do not care, especially that we are used to seeing many flags displayed in Canada. From the media mentioned in this post, the (Jewish) young man who is behind the petition seems to be an articulate and peaceful fellow.
The question that Bambi cannot help not to wonder now is the following: why would a 39-year-old man who lives miles away from Gaza be passionate about the Israel-Hamas war to the point of resorting to criminal behaviour to make the Israeli flag disappear. Why can’t he be wiser, especially at his age? Why doesn’t he tolerate seeing—even if he dislikes it—this foreign flag? If Bambi understood well, this citizen does not seem to be a resident of Hampstead. Why couldn’t he ignore the Israeli flag when he walked in this neighbourhood? More significantly, why can’t he use, or keep using, democratic means to publicly express his anti-Israel opinion (e.g., writing, walking in demonstrations, or signing the petition)? What made him dive into maladaptive behaviour?
To conclude this post with additional questions, how does burning a flag in Canada support innocent Gazans? And how could the torching acts allow this man to keep supporting his cause, which seems to mean a lot to him? Last but not least, are the Middle East troubles worth having a criminal case with a long legal, financial, and psychological journey to defend oneself?
