AMMAN — Israel’s new far-right Minister of National
Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has instructed Israeli
forces to remove Palestinian flags from public areas, calling the hoisting of
the flag an act of “terrorism”, Al Jazeera reported.
اضافة اعلان
This ban adds to various punitive measures Benjamin Netanyahu’s
ultra-religious government has taken against Palestinians since taking office.
According to a statement from
Ben-Gvir’s office, the minister “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.”
In a position paper published on Tuesday,
Palestinian rights center Adalah wrote that “the guiding principles and coalition agreements of
the new Israeli government intend to deepen Jewish supremacy and racial
segregation”, Wafa reported.
The paper said that the new government has shaped its policies on
the principle that the Jewish people have an “exclusive right” to the land they
occupy.
“The guiding principles and coalition agreements of the new Israeli government intend to deepen Jewish supremacy and racial segregation”
In practice, the paper said, this means that the government has
and will continue denying Palestinian people the
right to self-determination and work to further establish “a racist regime of supremacy and segregation in
all areas under Israel's control”.
Israel’s government is actively stifling the Palestinian people’s
public life, political participation, and expressions of identity and
self-determination, the paper said. This can be seen in the ban on flying the
Palestinian flag, the new government’s murky definitions and applications of
“terrorism” rulings, and the limiting of
Palestinians’ right to protest.
The order came on the heels of a large anti-government protest in
Tel Aviv on Saturday, during which protesters were seen flying the Palestinian
flag.
Israeli police were already permitted to remove Palestinian flags
from public areas whenever they were considered “a threat to public order”.
However, the new directive given by Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police as
national security minister, broadens the ruling to allow indiscriminate removal
of the Palestinian national symbol.
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