We are outraged that Broome County, NY, citizens are being forced to tolerate the flag of the greatest human rights violator in the world today, Israel. 

We should not be forced to live under the flag of the murderous Israeli government simply because the Sheriff of Broome County is fond of the genocidal state.

We formally request that members of the Broome County Legislative body immediately order that the Israeli flag be removed from the flagpole at the Broome County Jail. 

To raise and praise the flag of Israel is to praise the criminal actions of Israel in Gaza, and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land over the past 77 years.

*The International Criminal Court has ruled there is a plausible genocide being committed against the people of Gaza for the last 18 months, killing over 50,000 people, including 20,000 children (a figure most analysts now agree on)

*39,000 Palestinian children left orphaned.

*4,000 Palestinian children made amputees

*206 journalists and 406 aid workers assassinated.

*All hospitals and healthcare facilities in Gaza have been bombed and left inoperable.

* Over 1,000 doctors and healthcare workers have been killed, which will lead to thousands of more deaths due to lack of healthcare. 

*Most schools, universities, refugee camps, and water treatment facilities have been bombed in Gaza, leaving 2 million people without food, water, electricity, or fuel.

*The Israeli Occupation Forces have blocked all food, water, and medical supplies from entering Gaza, and has murdered hundreds of refugees who were simply seeking food and medicine.

*Israel has Ignored the ICJ’s ruling that occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza is illegal under international law, and that its imposed regime of apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territory constitutes discrimination against its Palestinian residents. Israel has continued to carry out attacks on villages in the West Bank, killing over 1,000 Palestinian’s since October 7th 2023. 

*Israel has ignored ICC warrants for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

We cannot separate the Israeli flag from the actions of the Israeli government, whether it’s the genocide in Gaza, or colonization of the West Bank. This flag raising is an abomination and an insult to all those who value human life, and human rights.