Tipsheet

A Palestinian Flag Was Just Raised in This US Town

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  November 15, 2023 9:30 AM

A Palestinian flag has been raised in North Andover, Massachusetts, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

The controversial move to raise the flag was approved after an hour of public comment during a rowdy Select Board meeting Monday night. It will now fly on the Town Common flag pole until Dec. 7. 

Both sides came to express their opinions even though the board appeared to have already decided. In a statement released prior to the meeting, the town explained the application to fly the flag came hours before it updated its policies. 

The application for flying of the Palestinian flag, which will be considered by the Board next week, was submitted to the Town six hours prior to its vote on the updated policies. After consultation with counsel, based upon the timing of events and the fact that the new policy was not in effect at the time the application was received, the determination regarding this application will be made under the old policy as required by law.

The prior flag policy specifically allowed a Town resident to submit an application to fly a flag on the Town’s flagpole, resulting in that flagpole being considered a public forum. The recent US Supreme Court decision addressing flag policies in the context of the First Amendment, Shurtleff v. Boston, requires select boards to make content-neutral decisions regarding the raising of flags on flagpoles deemed public forums, unless the Town enacts a policy restricting flag poles to governmental speech. The content or the subject matter of a flag cannot be considered when reviewing an application presented under the old policy. According to the decision in the Shurtleff case, the Town may not prohibit a flag to be flown based on its content, its meaning or its message. This limitation on the Select Board’s discretion indicates that denial of a resident’s flag application under the prior policy places the Town in jeopardy of legal action.

The new policy limits the use of the flagpole to statements of governmental speech only, consistent with the Shurtleff decision. The new policy does not allow a resident to submit an application to raise a flag. Based upon the timing of the circumstances as previously described, this policy does not apply to the flag application currently in discussion. However, this is the last flag application to be considered under the old policy. (North Andover)

The town emphasized that despite its approval, it does not "express the sentiment or position of the town of North Andover or its agents."


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