Israeli Restrictions on Palestinian Flags ‘Repressive’: Amnesty
Bolstered Israeli restrictions against flying the Palestinian flag are “a shameless attempt to legitimize racism,” rights group Amnesty International said Tuesday.
Israel’s new firebrand National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered the police commander on Sunday to authorize officers to remove Palestinian flags flying in public spaces.
“I have instructed the Israeli police to enforce the ban on flying a PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) flag in public spaces, a sign of identification with a terrorist organization,” Ben-Gvir wrote on Twitter.
“We will fight terrorism and the supporters of terrorism with all our might,” he added.
After winning November elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a government last month with key posts taken by far-right allies.
They include Ben-Gvir of the Jewish Power party, who has a history of inflammatory remarks about Palestinians.
Amnesty called the new measures “repressive” and an “audacious attack on the rights to nationality, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly,” in a statement sent to AFP.
In Israel and in annexed east Jerusalem, Israeli security forces already confiscate Palestinian flags, sometimes triggering violence.
Source: Arab News
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