Israeli Police Raid Communist Party's Nazareth Branch and Confiscate Palestinian Flag
On 4 May 2023, Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, sent a letter on behalf of the Nazareth branch of the Communist Party to Israel's Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara. In the letter, Adalah demanded the immediate initiation of a criminal investigation against the police officers who unlawfully raided the branch and confiscated the Palestinian flag that was displayed on its premises.
CLICK HERE to read Adalah’s letter
On 26 April 2023, the police raided the branch's premises without presenting a warrant. They climbed onto the rooftop, removed the Palestinian flags and red communist flags that were displayed, and confiscated them. Additionally, the police detained an activist at the branch, Mr. Kobati, inside a police car after he refused to remove the flag. The police also threatened him, saying that he would be arrested if the flags were raised again.
In the letter, Adalah's General Director, Dr. Hassan Jabareen, argued that the raid and detention were illegal. Under Israeli law, police officers are prohibited from entering and searching any private property without a warrant, except in specific circumstances that were not relevant in this case. Furthermore, the activist's detention was clearly unlawful as it lacked any legitimate grounds or reasonable suspicion of committing an offense that would justify an arrest, thus, it constitutes a blatant violation of the law. Adalah further argued that the confiscation of Palestinian flags is part of a broader policy pursued by the far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, to ban the waving of the flag.
Minister Ben-Gvir publicly supported the raid, addressing Knesset members from Arab political parties in a Twitter post: "Ofer Cassif and Ahmad Tibi, the days when a minister in the National Security Ministry allows you to celebrate and wave terrorist flags on Independence Day are over. According to my policy, today the police prevented the bullying of Jews and banned PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization] flags. While you desire anarchy and a state of the PLO, we aspire to a Jewish and Zionist State of Israel."
In its letter, Adalah further noted that currently, there is no prohibition against waving the Palestinian flag under Israeli law.
CLICK HERE to read more about the historical and legal status of the Palestinian flag in Adalah's position paper.
Photo by: Hadash Party Spokesperson
