Israel’s Ben-Gvir orders police to ban Palestine flags from public spaces
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has ordered Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai on Sunday to implement a new policy to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces.
A day after a Palestine flag was waved at a mass Israeli-led anti-government protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Ben-Gvir sent out the new order to Shabtai.
A protester raises the flag of Palestine in Tel Aviv during a protest tonight against the racist agenda of the Benjamin Netanyahu government. pic.twitter.com/oT12VihoQs
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 7, 2023
Protesters labeled the recently sworn-in government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “fascist” and advocated for equality and coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis.
“Minister Ben Gvir sent the police commissioner’s office an order stating that all police officers of any rank are authorized in the course of police work to pull down flags of the Palestinian Authority,” a statement from his office said.
Ben Gvir claimed his order “relies on the fact that displaying a [Palestinian] flag is a form of supporting terror.”
Writing on Twitter, Netanyahu on Sunday said the presence of the Palestinian flag at the Tel Aviv protest was “wild incitement.”
Thousands of Israelis demonstrate in Tel Aviv against the new far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/Lo1tq4wFUv
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 7, 2023
Israeli media reported that the announcement also came hours after the right-wing minister summoned Shabtai for a dressing down over the fact that open celebrations were held in the Palestinian town of ‘Ara to celebrate the freedom of Karim Younis, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner who was released on Tuesday after spending 40 years in Israeli prisons. During the celebration, freed Karim Younis waved a Palestinian flag.
Watch: Karim Younis, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner who spent 40 years in Israeli prisons and was released this morning, sings for the flag of Palestine. pic.twitter.com/cwCnRbWXY7
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 5, 2023
Ben Gvir had ordered police to prevent public celebrations in ‘Ara, claiming such celebrations offer support for terrorism.
“It can’t be that lawbreakers wave terror flags, incite and support terror, and therefore I have ordered that terror-supporting flags be removed from the public space,” Ben Gvir said in the statement.
Israel’s Channel 13 news, which reported the initial order, reported that Israeli police were unsure of the unilateral decree, as Israel’s High Court of Justice has already deemed in many rulings that the right to expression must not be restricted unless there is near certainty of a grave and genuine threat to public safety.
Israel’s new far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who's already convicted of terrorism, has instructed police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces. More details here. pic.twitter.com/Ys7opL3JE6
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 9, 2023
The display of the Palestinian flag in Israeli-occupied Palestine has long been clamped down on by Israeli occupation authorities, with Palestinians regarding such moves as an attempt to suppress Palestinian identity.
In 2021, Ben Gvir’s predecessor Omer Barlev also asked the police commissioner to limit the confiscation of flags at public events.
The court on November 7, 2022, rejected a petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) against the police commissioner, Jerusalem district commander, and state attorney, demanding an end to the harassment of demonstrators carrying the Palestinian flag.
The court said the petition had been rejected because the Attorney General had already issued an update informing officers not to interfere with the flying of the flag unless it “has the potential to instigate a disturbance of the peace”, as per policy.
Ben-Gvir, who was sworn in about two weeks ago as part of the new government, is known for his extreme views and inciting racism towards Palestinians.
Many Palestinians are fearful of the new government’s policies towards them, in light of the strong presence of far-right settler groups within it, with Ben-Gvir in particular.
In some of its first moves over the past few days, the new Israeli government rescinded the travel permit of the Palestinian foreign minister Riad al-Malki on Sunday and decided to withhold $39m in revenues from the Palestinian Authority on Friday.
The moves were part of an effort to penalise Palestinians for asking the International Court of Justice to give an opinion on the Israeli occupation, which is illegal under international law.
