Public statement on the lighting of the tower at our Newtown St Boswells offices:
Following a request to the Council and in light of the UK Government’s decision regarding the flying of the Israeli flag/coloured lighting of UK Government buildings, Scottish Borders Council lit the tower at our Newtown St Boswells offices blue and white on Tuesday evening.
This reflected our solidarity at the immediate time with all of those affected by the deadly terrorist attacks in Israel at the weekend by the proscribed terrorist group Hamas.
The lighting of the tower in blue and white was solely in response to the terrorist attacks by Hamas, which have received almost universal international condemnation.
Categorically, this simple action was not intended to, and did not, infer our support for any particular side involved in the complex political situation in this area of the world, nor ignorance or lack of sympathy for those impacted by any subsequent actions. It reflected our solidarity with those individuals and families, including beyond Israel’s borders, impacted by the Hamas attacks, and is in accordance with similar actions and statements issued previously, including following the terror attacks in Paris and the actions of Russian forces in Ukraine.