Knesset members from the Joint Arab List voiced their strong objection Wednesday to a bill drafted by MK Anat Berko (Likud) that would outlaw the display of flags of enemy states or hostile entities – including the Palestinian flag – at demonstrations in Israel.
Under Berko's legislation, anyone waving an enemy flag would face criminal proceedings and could be sentenced to a year in prison.
MK Yousef Jabareen, a member of the Knesset Ethics Committee, said the bill was a product of "the radical, nationalist, and racist Right."
The bill's only purpose is to "sow barriers and hatred," Jabareen said. "The Palestinian flag is the collective national symbol for the entire Palestinian people, not a flag of the Palestinian Authority, the PLO, or any particular faction."
"The Arab citizens of Israel belong to the Palestinian people," he continued.
"Two peoples live in Israel, and common sense demands that we give legitimacy to the right of both sides to display their national symbols."
Jabareen went on to say that "the symbols of the state [of Israel], the menorah and the flag, are religious, Zionist symbols that are exclusive to the majority group. Israel has failed for over 70 years to adopt symbols that all citizens have in common."
Berko's proposal follows a recent Israeli Arab protest in Tel Aviv against the nation-state law, during which several dozen protesters waved Palestinian flags. Some demonstrators also chanted anti-Israel slogans at the protest rally, sparking a harsh public backlash.
Berko said this week that she plans to submit her bill, which will take the form of an amendment to existing public order directives, to a preliminary vote at the start of the Knesset's winter session on Oct. 14.
"The flag of an enemy entity cannot be allowed to wave in the Israeli public sphere. We cannot tolerate that," Berko said.
