Showing Palestinian flag isn't supporting Hamas - Schlein

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 3 - Showing a Palestinian flag does not make someone a Hamas supporter, Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein told an ANSA forum on Monday when asked about Bologna's PD Mayor Matteo Lepore hanging one from a window in the city's town hall.
    "I support Bologna Mayor Lepore," said Schlein, whose American father is of Jewish descent.
    "I think that displaying the flag in no way amounts to supporting terrorism.
    "Equating Hamas and the Palestinian people does not help to isolate Hamas".
    Italy's Jews said Lepore's move legitimised the terrorism of Islamist militants Hamas who sparked the Gaza war with their brutal attack on Israel on October 7.
    "If you really want to emphasise respect for human rights and peace, don't just display one flag but display both.
    "A flag in a public place cannot be used as a symbol of contestation of other countries," the president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities Noemi Di Segni, together with the president of the Bologna Community Daniele De Paz, told ANSA.
    "Such a gesture from a public institution only legitimises the voice of terrorism and prevarication", they said, adding: "We invite (Mayor Matteo) Lepore to visit Israel in the areas of the (Hamas) massacre before displaying flags and slogans".
    Announcing the move, Lepore said Bologna would fly the Israeli flag too if and when Tel Aviv ends its controversial campaign in Gaza which has killed over 36,000 civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
    In the October 7 attacks Hamas killed almost 1,400 people and took some 250 hostages. (ANSA).