Israel lawmaker moves to ban Palestine flag following passing of 'apartheid' Jewish nation-state law

Israel lawmaker moves to ban Palestine flag following passing of 'apartheid' Jewish nation-state law
An Israeli lawmaker has proposed a law that will outlaw people from waving the Palestinian flag and punish offenders with one-year prison terms.

2 min read
22 August, 2018
The move in the wake of mass protests against the controversial Nation-State Law [Getty]

An Israeli lawmaker has proposed a law that will outlaw people from waving the Palestinian flag and punish offenders with one-year prison terms.

Anat Berko of the right-wing ruling Likud party submitted the draft law on Wednesday, news website Israel Hayom  reported, in the wake of mass protests against a controversial law that declares Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people.

‎"The flag of an enemy entity cannot be allowed to ‎fly in the Israeli public sphere. We cannot tolerate that," ‎Berko said.

She added that the bill will be voted on when parliament's winter session ‎begins in October.

The outlet, which supports Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said that government has ‎‎"guaranteed backing for the bill‎" and that it would ‎"work to ‎expedite the legislative process‎". ‎

The move comes after tens of thousands of Palestinian Israelis and their supporters have held rallies against the Nation-State Law.

Several clauses contained in the controversial law that passed last month are sources of concern. It makes no mention of equality or democracy, implying that Israel's Jewish nature takes precedence.

One section refers to Israel as the historic homeland of the Jews and says they have a "unique" right to self-determination there.

Others define the establishment of Jewish communities as in the national interest and make Hebrew the sole official language, downgrading Arabic to special status.

This week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed to appeal the law at the United Nations.

Israel has long sought to place severe restrictions on Palestinian activism and opposition to Israeli occupation.

Under Israel's Military Order 101, which was passed 50 years ago, the display of Palestinian flags, emblems, posters or the publication of documents and images of a political nature are also banned, resulting in the complete censoring of political expression.