The High Court of Justice on Wednesday set a date, six weeks after the general elections, for Israeli flag parade to take place in the Israeli Arab municipality of Um el-Fahm. The court’s decision was the result of another appeal from Chevron residents Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gavir, organizers of the event.

The parade was to have already taken place but police canceled the permit due to security concerns. The court on Wednesday was angered at both Israel Police and the State Prosecutor’s Office for not upholding the court decision to permit the march. The court questioned why police are not capable of protecting citizens marching with the national flag.

Interestingly, the left-wing is decrying the event, accusing the organizers of seeking to inflame the Arab community. They called upon the court not to grant the request.

Marzel on the other hand explains that there are a number of reasons compelling him to push the event, including the fact that Arabs can freely fly the PLO flag so there is no logical reason why Israelis should not be permitted to fly the national flag. In addition, Marzel is seeking to highlight the lack of loyalty to the state among the Israeli citizens of the Arab municipality, who benefit from their rights as citizens but denounce the state and its Jewish character and do not wish to see the national flag in their community.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)