Bill sponsored by a far-right lawmaker passed the first of four legislative hurdles
ed note–the reader will recall a recent story whereby a similar bill SPECIFICALLY TARGETING CHRISTIANS was brought up in the Knesset that would have imposed a one-year prison sentence upon any follower of Jesus Christ sharing his/her faith with a Jew.
When Netanyahu realized the damage this would do to his biggest base of support in America, i.e. the horde of brain-dead Christian Evangelicals who suckle him and his diabolic state with hundreds of millions of dollars a year and an incalculable amount of political support, he shot down the bill, not because he was ideologically opposed to it, but rather for reasons related to ‘optics’.
This is just another extension of that same bill.
Whilst the story directs the reader’s attention to the display of ‘Palestinian flags’, what it is actually designed to do is to forbid under the penalty of a prison sentence the public expression of any Gentile political or religious precepts.
Today it will be a ‘flag’. Tomorrow it will be a t-shirt. The day after it will be a pin worn on a lapel. The week after it will be jewelry related to Christianity or Islam, and then eventually, anyone even MENTIONING the name of Jesus or Mohammed in a favorable fashion (or without spitting, as Jews are commanded to do) will find themselves ‘cooling their heels’ in an Israeli prison.
And no, this is not a ‘refutation’ of ‘authentic’ Judah-ism that is rooted in the Talmud, but rather Judah-ism in its most Kristol-clear form, to wit–
‘When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are to possess and drives out the many nations larger and stronger than you, and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not save alive anything that breathes…Do not intermarry with them…Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons…Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their idols in the fire, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God who has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession…’
–Book of Deuteronomy
The Jewish Daily Forward
Israel’s parliament is advancing a bill that would ban the public display of flags of a ‘hostile entity.’ The Knesset voted on a preliminary approval of the bill, which now needs to pass three additional votes.
The bill, sponsored by Otzma Yehudit lawmaker Almog Cohen, states that three or more people waving the flag of an enemy entity or organization will be considered a prohibited gathering.
If the bill is enacted, flying the Palestinian flag in public would be punishable by up to a year in prison.
The Palestinian flag is often flown by Arab citizens of Israel, many of whom identify as Palestinians, and by left-wing Israelis who oppose the government’s settlement policies.
The police commissioner is authorized to ban the public display of Palestinian flags, if he deems the flags ‘a symbol that can lead to disrupting the peace.’ However, enforcement is left to the discretion of the commander in the field.
Also, in keeping with the instructions of the attorney general in 2006 and 2014, the police enforce this ban only when there’s ‘a high likelihood for a severe violation of public safety.’
The bill stipulates that if at least three people gather and display in public the flag of a state, entity or body that are not friendly to Israel it would be judged a forbidden gathering. Those taking part in the gathering may therefore be arrested and are liable to a prison sentence of up to one year.
The explanation to the bill says the bill ‘directs the public behavior in Israel. As a democracy, Israel enables its citizens to protest decisions they don’t agree with the authorities on. But the proposal draws a red line between legitimate protest and one in which there are flags of those who don’t recognize the State of Israel, those who aren’t friendly towards it or who don’t allow Israeli flags to be raised in their territory.’
Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said in a statement that police officers removing flags at protests and arresting those holding them are in extreme breach of their authority and the law. Adalah said that this bill is even more extreme than the provisions of the coalition agreement with Otzma Yehudit, because it imposes criminal sanctions on displaying the flag in the entire public sphere, not merely in state or state-supported institutions.