The day after Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzma’ut), a religious Israeli man was arrested by the police and then detained for several hours. His “crime”? Having displayed both the Israeli and Palestinian flags on his kippah. After being released and requesting its return, his kippah was given back to him torn, with the Palestinian flag carefully removed by the police.
In the Jewish and democratic state that has just celebrated its 78th anniversary, a citizen was thus denied both his rights as a Jew (the right to wear a kippah) and as a free citizen (the right to express his opinions).
This Israeli was “reported” by a fellow citizen who could not tolerate the sight of a flag and believed it legitimate to call the police to remove it from view and punish this “offender,” as one might call upon a political police force in a dictatorship.
This incident says much about how the police perceive their mission and their sense of impunity, under the authority of a powerful and unrestrained far-right minister within a government whose leader gives him full latitude without ever sanctioning him.
Although an investigation was initiated, no reprimand came from the government and even less from the far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Among the political class, only Yair Golan’s Democrats party spoke out against this arbitrary arrest, which sadly symbolizes the deterioration of democratic norms in Israel under the current government.
It also reflects the decline of the idea of coexistence in Israel-Palestine, and even the denial of the existence of a Palestinian people. In this sense, it is the logical continuation of a law passed in 2023 by the same minister, Ben-Gvir, banning the display of the Palestinian flag in public spaces.
The October 7 massacre, the appropriation of the Palestinian cause by terrorists, and its instrumentalization by their useful idiots in the West have significantly contributed to its criminalization and to the renewed denial of the Palestinian people within Israel.
Nevertheless, this case illustrates the colonization of minds following that of the West Bank among part of the Israeli population, and it is in some respects an extension of the violence carried out by extremist settlers in the Palestinian territories.
This incident is a marker. It symbolizes the decline of democracy, the recognition of the other, and the hope for future coexistence. The tearing of this kippah also reflects that of Israeli society and of the country’s declaration of independence – with its democratic principles – celebrated just hours before an arbitrary arrest that once again illustrates the existential nature of the upcoming elections in Israel.
Born and raised in France, the writer is the correspondent of French Jewish radio, Radio J, and of the French paper librejournal.fr in the US, where he has been living for 16 years. He is also a contributor to the European review K. He also holds US and Israeli citizenships. His opinions are his only.
Source:
www.jpost.com
