Outcry over Salafi movement's flags on East Jerusalem buses
Transportation Minister Katz orders investigation into the placing of flags of Hizb al-Tahrir, a Palestinian Salafi movement, on East Jerusalem buses; Israeli NGO says that placing such flags on buses 'constitutes incitement and support for terror.'
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz ordered the National Public Transport Authority to investigate the placing of flags identifying with an extremist Salafi movement on public buses in East Jerusalem.
Katz called for the investigation after pictures of the flags were posted on Palestinian social media. The Transportation Ministry said Minister Katz has "taken necessary actions against those involved."
The flags belong to Hizb al-Tahrir, a radical Salafist movement, and one of its flags was found on a car the terrorists, who carried out an attack in Jerusalem last week.
Hizb al-Tahrir is active in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, calls for the return to the fundamentals of Islam, and does not recognize the Palestinian Authority. Most of its work entails preaching and social welfare without the use of violence.
Israel captured a cell of three Salafists militants from Yatta in 2013, who conspired to carry out attacks against Israelis.
Maor Tzemah, director of "Go, Jerusalem," an organization advocating for the full application of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, said that there is no place for an extremist organization's symbols in public spaces. He added, "Displaying symbols of Islamist and Salafist organizations in Jerusalem public spaces constitutes incitement and support for terror."
Tzemah commented further, "It should not be possible for a company funded by the Israeli government for the benefit of local residents to display a terrorist flag of an extremist Islamic movement like 'Hizb Al-Tahrir,' which called for Arab armies to unite immediately to free Palestine from the 'Zionist occupation' in a flyer distributed in Toronto last year."
Bayit Yehudi MK Nissan Slomiansky issued a formal response to the affair, inquiring why bus fares in East Jerusalem are less than the rest of the city. According to Slomiansky, fares on East Jerusalem buses are NIS 5.5 for a single ride, while they are NIS 6.90 on West Jerusalem buses.
The Transportation Ministry said in response to Slomiansky's inquiry: "Bus fares are low in East Jerusalem, but they do not include transfer to other means of transportation including the light rail. The transportation rates in West Jerusalem are higher, but they do include a 90-minute option to transfer to other buses or the light rail."
