Israel’s war against the Palestinian flag

Israel’s war against the Palestinian flag
Photo by rrodrickbeiler via iStock

11-01-2023

Eleonora Spina

Middle East Team Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence 

After demonstrators waved the Palestinian flag at the anti-government protest in Tel Aviv on January 7, Israel’s new national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, seized the opportunity to enforce the ban on flying a PLO in public spaces, calling it a symbol of terrorism. [1] 

The display of the flag in Tel-Aviv during a rally against the far-right policies of the new government raised strong reactions. “The flag of terror and the great enemy of the state of Israel is now proudly raised in a demonstration on the stage in Tel Aviv, how did we get to this?" wrote on Twitter Israeli reporter Yael Zien. [2] On the other hand Ben-Gvir referred to the exhibit of the flag as an act of incitement against Israel, which has to be stopped. [3]

According to Israel’s High Court of Justice the police force must not interfere with the right to freerom of expression and the flying of the flag unless “there is near certainty of a grave and genuine threat to public safety”. [4] 

The Palestinian flag has had a troubled history in Israel; it was initially outlawed soon after it was created, during Israel's occupation of Gaza in 1967, and even after the ban was lifted in 1988 with the recognition of the Palestinian State, Israeli authorities have continued to exert some form of control over whether the flag could be displayed in public. [5] Just last year, in May, Israeli police officers raided a funeral procession to prevent the display of the Palestinian flag on Abu Akleh’s coffin, a Palestinian journalist killed by Israeli gunfire. [6] Restrictions restarted in June 2022, when a member of the Likud party proposed to ban the display of the Palestine flag at state-funded institutions. The bill was passed with 63 votes in favor. In December 2022 after several students waved a flag inside universities on Nakba Day, another member of the Likud party proposed an amendment to the Higher Education Law, banning the display of Palestinian flags inside colleges. [7]

This recent act is perceived by international media as the continuation of the systemic oppression of Palestinian identity, “the farcical pretexts for this directive cannot mask the fact that Israeli authorities are growing increasingly ruthless in their attempts to crush all opposition to the apartheid system”, as Heba Morayef from Amnesty International has put it. [8] 



Sources & Further Reading:

[1]MiddleEastEye, “Israel's Ben-Gvir orders police to bar Palestinian flags from public spaces” 6 January 2023 <https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israels-ben-gvir-orders-police-bar-palestinian-flag-public-spaces> accessed on 10 January 2023

[2]AlJazeera, “Israel orders police to remove Palestine flags from public spaces” 9 January 2023 <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/9/israel-orders-police-to-remove-palestine-flags-from-public-spaces> accessed on 10 January 2023 

[3]ibid

[4]MiddleEastEye, “Israel's Ben-Gvir orders police to bar Palestinian flags from public spaces” 6 January 2023 <https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israels-ben-gvir-orders-police-bar-palestinian-flag-public-spaces> accessed on 10 January 2023

[5]TRT World “Explained: history of Israeli assault on the Palestinian flag” 11 January 2023 <https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/explained-history-of-israeli-assault-on-the-palestinian-flag-64337> accessed on 11 January 2023 

[6]ibid

[7]ibid

[8]Amnesty International, “Israel/OPT: Flag restrictions are the latest attempt to silence Palestinians and reduce their visibility” January 11 2023 <https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/01/israel-opt-flag-restrictions-are-the-latest-attempt-to-silence-palestinians-and-reduce-their-visibility/> accessed on 11 January 2022


[9]The Washington Post, “Palestinian prime minister says Israel aims to topple the PA” 9 January 2023 <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israels-ben-gvir-bans-palestinian-flag-flying-in-public/2023/01/09/26997e42-8ffb-11ed-90f8-53661ac5d9b9_story.html> accessed on 11 January 2023