Tel Aviv
CNN
—
Israel’s new far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gubir, has ordered police to remove Palestinian flags hoisted in public, saying that displaying them is “identical to terrorism.” He claimed that it showed “gender”.
“Law breakers cannot wave terrorist flags, incite or promote terrorism,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
Ben Guvir issued the order after Karim Younis, who had just been released from prison after serving 40 years for killing an Israeli, raised the Palestinian flag in northern Israel on Thursday.
Experts say Ben Gvir’s ban is unlikely to withstand legal scrutiny. Raising the Palestinian flag is “not illegal,” Israeli lawyer Avigdor Feldman told CNN on Monday, suggesting there are ways to overturn the order. ”
In front of oslo agreementthe Israeli government considered the Palestinian flag a symbol of terrorism, but an interim peace agreement signed between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel in 1993 effectively lifted the ban.
Feldman said the minister’s argument that unfurling the Palestinian flag equated with supporting terrorism was not strong.
Israeli police already have the authority to take up flags in certain circumstances. Last year, they snatched Palestinian flags from mourners at the funeral of an Al Jazeera journalist. Shireen Abu Akley Israeli flag from Jews on Temple Hill, which Muslims call Haram al-Sharif, or royal sanctuary.
In a statement given to CNN on Monday, a police spokesperson said: screen. These factors are taken into consideration for public safety and possible crimes such as supporting terrorist organizations. ”
For Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer based in Haifa, the ban flag is not important. She pointed out that the High Court ruled against such a ban in November 2022.
“They do this [issue a flag ban] It’s about giving the police the freedom to do whatever they want,” she told CNN. “They know it’s illegal to do this sort of thing, but the point is to take enough repressive measures to keep people quiet.”
Alongside the flag order, Ben Gubir said it limits the number of lawmakers allowed to visit so-called security prisoners to one member of parliament per party.
The edict of Ben Guvir, who heads the Jewish power faction of the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, came just days after his controversial visit to Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.that morning walk provoked criticism A meeting of the UN Security Council was held amid concerns about the threat to the status quo of the Flashpoint Holy Land, from opponents and allies alike.
