Hagai Segal
Photo: Zoom 77
How low can you go?
Hagai Segal writes about evolution of Israeli flags at leftist demonstrations
The large leftist protest
held last Saturday night turned out to be one protest too much. The number of demonstrators who gathered outside the homes of the Jews living in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood was very impressive, yet the display of flags at the rally was even more impressive.
The flags accurately reflected the direction Israel’s leftist camp is moving towards as of 2010.
We saw beautiful PLO flags being hoisted there, as well as shiny red flags that were left over from the Communist Party estate (bearing the hammer and sickle, no less!). We also saw one or two Peace Now flags behind waved there. Yet there were no Israeli flags. Apparently, this was not as result of a sudden shortage in cloth or a strike at sewing workshops nationwide.
Blasphemy
Ronen Medzini
Wall opposite home of one of Sheikh Jarrah protests' organizers spray-painted with slogan reading 'Israel destroyer,' 'Leftists out'
Exactly 28 years ago, someone held up a PLO flag at a Peace Now rally in Tel Aviv against the Menachem Begin government; at the time, leftist spokespeople were overcome with embarrassment.
They proceeded to strongly deny any desire on their part for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Their representatives at the Knesset asked that we refrain from smearing the entire camp because of one anomalous flag. What will they be saying now?
Hadash Party Knesset Member Dov Khenin argued this week on the radio that an Israeli flag was held up after all during the protest at Sheikh Jarrah. He even said he has a photo to prove it.
However, this debate merely highlights the fascinating change undergone by our peace camp: Once upon a time, it felt the need to apologize for one single PLO flag being held up during one of its protests; today, it needs to swear that its protests also feature Israeli flags.
