As Israel continues its military action against Hamas in Gaza in retaliation to the horrific terror attack on Israel by Hamas, Islamists and leftists worldwide, who are traditionally anti-Israel, are protesting against Israel and in support of Hamas and Palestine. A similar protest march in support of Palestinians was taken out by the Kerala-based Welfare Party of India in Kerala on Friday, 20 October in Palakkad in Kerala.
However, when the photos and videos of the protest started appearing on social media, people started mocking the Welfare Party of India, saying that it was carrying the flag of Italy instead of the flag of Palestine. In the photos, the protestors were seen carrying a large number of flags which looked like the Italian flag.
HILARIOUS:
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) October 21, 2023
The Welfare Party in Kerala, India took out a rally in favor of Palestinians, but they brought ITALIAN flags instead of the Palestinian flag. 😂 #FreeItaly https://t.co/GKRCuyYuYU
As both the flags of Italy and Palestine contain the same colours, red, green and white, people assumed that the party mistakenly picked the wrong flag for the protest. The protestors were seen carrying a large banner saying ‘Free Palestine’, apart from the flag with green, white and red vertical bands.
“Socialist stupidity and Jew hatred are once again proven to be a package deal,” tweeted activist and radio talk show host Charlie Kirk.
Thousands of members of the Welfare Party in Kerala, India march with Italian flags mistaking then for the Palestinian flag, while holding letters that read: “Free Palestien”
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) October 21, 2023
Socialist stupidity and Jew hatred are once again proven to be a package deal. pic.twitter.com/YLYAB4A53S
Many other X users posted similar tweets, mocking the political party for carrying the Italian flag instead of the Palestinian flag.
Welfare Party of India in Kerala took out this rally in support of Palestine but with flag of Italy.
— Incognito (@Incognito_qfs) October 21, 2023
I sent this video to my Mallu friend to mock him.
He replied:
These people have Italian flag in hand but Palestine in heart. They also wave Indian Flag but with Pakistan in… pic.twitter.com/uUQOVVwDnV
A mistake at a large pro-Hamas protest in Kerala, India, saw hundreds raising the Italian flag (🇮🇹) instead of the Palestinian flag (🇵🇸). pic.twitter.com/g3tcs277UI
— Imam of Peace (@Imamofpeace) October 21, 2023
However, actually it is the people mocking the Welfare Party of India are mistaken, and the party didn’t make any mistake in carrying the flag. This is because they were carrying neither the Italian flag nor the Palestinian flag, they were carrying the flag of their own party.
The flag of the Welfare Party of India has remarkable similarity with the Italian flag, as both the flags are made of vertical panels of green, white and red. However, there is a difference.
In the Italian flag, all three panels are blank, but in the WPI flag, there are design elements in the white part in the middle. It has the olive leaves symbol in yellow and the words ‘Welfare Party’ written vertically in black inside the white panel.
As the videos shared by the social media users are of low resolution, the yellow leaves symbol is mostly not visible against the white background. But parts of the words ‘Welfare Party’ in black are visible in some of the flags if the videos are observed carefully.
Moreover, in other images and videos of the protest posted by the party and others, it is clearly seen that it is the party flag, not the Italian flag.
In the video posted in the tweet below, which has better resolution, the yellow leaves symbol and black letters saying ‘Welfare Party’ are clearly seen in the flags carried in a pro-Palestine march by the party in Kozhikode.
#Gaza_Genocide#IndiaWithPalestine: Massive rally in Kozhikode, Kerala – India by welfare party of India Kerala against #Israel's atrocities in #Palestine!
— KT Mubarak (@KTMubarakvelom) October 21, 2023
Hundreds join in solidarity with #Gaza, chanting slogans like '#FreePalestine' and 'Stop #Gaza_Genocide'! pic.twitter.com/qE3ElKVkac
Therefore, while the Welfare Party’s support for Palestinians is questionable given the horrific terror attack on Israel, the party didn’t make any mistake in picking the flag for the protest. People mocked them because their flag is almost similar to the Italian flag, assuming they were mistaking it for the Palestinian flag which has the same colours with the addition of a black panel.
