TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th August, 2020) The Tel Aviv mayor's office denied that the City Hall was illuminated in the colors of the historical Belarus flag in solidarity with the unrest following the recent presidential election.
"The Tel Aviv Municipality refutes such messaging," the mayor's office told Sputnik in response to an inquiry into the nature of the special lighting over the past two days.
Images circulated online of showing the glass facade of the building lit up in white-red-white coloration which has become a symbol of the protest movement against longtime ruler Alexander Lukashenko. The flag represented the country in the early 1990's, before Lukanshenko rose to power and instituted the red and green flag.
Just days prior, the City Hall building garnered attention for illuminating the likeness of the Lebanese flag on its facade, in solidarity with the neighbor after the devastating Beirut port explosion. Relations between Israel and Lebanon are replete with enmity and hostility dotted with numerous conflicts.
Unrest began in Belarus began after the ballot closed on the night of the August election, when the official numbers released showed Lukashenko leading by a wide margin. Thousands have since been arrested and one person died in cat-and-mouse scuffles with police, who have resorted to using tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.
