Israeli Court Petitioned to Allow Antiwar Rally

Police Denied Saturday Rally Over Possibility Someone Might Have a Palestinian Flag, Organizers Say

As Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip continue, so do the protests worldwide. While polls show most Israelis firmly behind the air strikes, and police have done their best to shut down protests in Arab towns in the north, a small but vocal minority of Israelis in opposition to the continued strikes seeks to make themselves heard. But police are having none of it.

Two activists hope to change that, pressing the Israeli High Court of Justice to order police to allow their antiwar rally, planned for Saturday evening, to proceed as scheduled. Police reportedly banned the rally because organizers said they couldn’t guarantee that some of the attendees wouldn’t bring Palestinian flags.

The legal basis for the police decision is unclear, and the organizers add that none of them had planned to bring a Palestinian flag. Still, it is a public rally, and it would be difficult to ensure that no attendee brought one with them.

Such a condition would likely give police an excuse to crack down on the protest and arrest the organizers, as has happened across the country. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has sent a letter complaining to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz about the number of protesters who have been arrested.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.