display
Hagen (dpa / lnw) - In the midst of the recent anti-Semitic riots in several German municipalities, the city of Hagen has hung the Israeli flag.
This step served "exclusively to de-escalate" and was made on Wednesday at the request of the police, the city announced on Friday.
Previously, at the request of the German-Israeli Society, the municipality hoisted the Israeli flag in front of its town hall to indicate the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany on May 12, 1965.
Against the background of current events in the Middle East, the raising of the flag was seen by many people as a unilateral expression of solidarity, the city said.
Many complaints were received in the administration and the police on Wednesday.
At lunchtime, the police urgently asked the municipality to remove the flag immediately.
The city of Hagen has by no means positioned itself politically in the current conflict, emphasized Mayor Erik O. Schulz.
There had been anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli riots in the past few days in Gelsenkirchen, Solingen, Düsseldorf, Münster and Bonn, as well as in other German cities.
display
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210514-99-600084 / 2
PM City of Hagen