Green Party leader says he was 'defusing tensions' after being filmed following Israeli flag removal in Sheffield

The incident on Tuesday night saw two men scale Sheffield Town Hall and an Israeli flag taken down and thrown off the building during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the city centre. It was replaced with the Palestinian flag, to cheers from those gathered below.

A brief video clip on social media of Douglas Johnson, who is leader for the Green group on the council and chairs the Housing Policy Committee making him part of the authority’s cross-party administration, has since emerged and shows him saying to a group of people: “I will say it again, the Israeli flag is not going up again. I’m one of the councillors, I’ve been talking to staff inside... it is not going up again.”

His comments were followed by cheering from those present.

Earlier in the evening, Coun Johnson had tweeted a picture of the demonstration while the Israeli flag was still in place, captioned: ‘"Take it down" is the shout from the crowd at this spontaneous demo today in #Sheffield #PalestineUnderAttack”’.

The video clip of Coun Johnson has been viewed over 12,000 times on X, formerly Twitter, and drawn criticism from some social media users.

In a statement to The Yorkshire Post, Coun Johnson said he had just come out of the Town Hall when the video was taken and had acted in an attempt to calm the situation down.

He said: “My view was that Sheffield City Council should not have taken the decision to fly the Israeli flag because it was likely to provoke and damage community relations.

“As with other Green Party leaders, I condemn the terror and violence being waged against civilians in both Gaza and Israel. The Green Party has called for an immediate end to the violence in Israel and Palestine. The targeting of civilians is an outrageous breach of international law and is unacceptable under all circumstances. Many people living in Sheffield have direct family links with Israel and Gaza and were likely to be traumatised by inflaming tensions.

“After the Israeli flag was dramatically removed from Sheffield Town Hall, a rumour began to circulate amongst the crowd that it was to be forcibly put up again. As a councillor, I was able to check the facts and address the crowd in order to defuse the tensions. I am glad to say this was successful.”

Israel has vowed unprecedented retaliation against the Palestinian militant group Hamas after its fighters stormed through the border fence on Saturday and shot hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival.

The Israeli government has launched a major retaliation of air strikes on Gaza and stopped the passage of food, water, fuel and medicine into the territory.

The conflict has already claimed at least 2,200 lives on both sides, with fears it could escalate further.

The incident in Sheffield took place shortly after 6pm on Tuesday and the council hoisted the Union Flag at 8pm – a move it said was planned before this happened.

A council spokeswoman said the council had displayed the Israeli flag to show solidarity.

She said the decision was taken in-line with the authority’s flag protocol and in response a request from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to consider doing it.

The spokeswoman said a full review of the incident is being undertaken, including an examination of security measures that were in place, and working with police.

A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said officers attended reports of a public order incident at the town hall on Sheaf Street in Sheffield at around 6.20pm.

She said: “It is believed that two men climbed onto the roof of the building and removed the flag that was being flown.

“During officers’ attendance and their attempts to disperse the crowds, minor disorder led to the two suspects fleeing the scene.”