It was only when the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into force that the mayor of Bologna, Matteo Lepore, decided to put the Israeli flag next to the Palestinian one that had been flying in front of the town hall for months. A “distensive” gesture was made in the last few hours, not without internal controversy within the city council. “We welcome it,” said the president of the city’s Jewish community, Daniele De Paz, who has repeatedly challenged the mayor on this partisan choice. Just a week before, De Paz said there was a “correlation” between the display of the Palestinian banner and the climate that led to the violence in Via dei Gombruti, where the Community\u2019s offices are located. “We have been demanding for months that this flag be removed because it is divisive,” said De Paz. “The mayor has chosen a different path, which is still in the direction of calming the environment.” For the time being, De Paz warns against those who would try to raise tensions again. Hundreds of pro-independence demonstrators gathered under the Palazzo d’Accursio to protest against the Israeli flag being displayed and accused the city council’s top management of “subservience to the Zionists.” But there was no shortage of positive reactions, adds De Paz, “and it is certainly no coincidence that all this is happening just a few days before 27 January: in any case, it promises to be a day that will not be easy to manage, even at university and high school level. I would not be surprised to see demonstrations against Remembrance Day on 27 January.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"