The Providence city council has kicked up a hornet’s nest by inviting residents from across the Rhode Island city to a ceremonial raising of the Palestinian flag at City Hall later this week. 

The event kicks off at noon on Friday, and includes remarks from “elected officials and community members,” the council shared on X. The event will make Providence one of the first American cities to raise the Palestinian flag since the start of the war in Gaza a year and a half ago.

The decision, which was approved by Providence’s mayor, Brett Smiley, is already being met with a barrage of criticism and disbelief. “Is this real?” a former GOP gubernatorial candidate, Ashley Kalus, commented on the council’s announcement.

However, the council maintains that the event was arranged in response to community demand. “As we do for many countries, cultures, and celebrations throughout the year, the flag will be up for the day of the event,” the communications director, Marc Boyd, wrote in a statement.

Last year, the city was the site of an anti-Israel protest on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. The demonstration, organized by local advocacy groups and anti-Israel organizations at Brown University, drew hundreds of anti-Israel activists to the Rhode Island statehouse to protest the war in Gaza. The protest was the culmination of a week-long “resistance against genocide” that featured events and activities organized by community groups and local businesses.

The council’s chief of staff, June Rose, has been arrested twice at anti-Israel protests — one in New York in March outside Trump Tower and another in Washington, D.C., in June 2024 protesting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress. Reports in the local press say members of the council have suggested that the chief of staff resign following the arrests, but no action has been taken to date.

The Providence city council has already raised eyebrows for its decision to hang the Palestinian flag inside of its chamber. Flags hung in the chamber have historically been limited to the American flag and the flags of the state of Rhode Island and of the city of Providence.