🚨 Loading... Read More

Israeli police cut Palestinian flag from lecturer's kippah after detaining him

Political Leaning Analysis
Left Center Right
Score: -0.22Center / Neutral




Israeli police cut Palestinian flag from lecturer's kippah after detaining him





Submitted by
Nadav Rapaport
on
Fri, 04/24/2026 - 12:43






Lecturer says incident highlights growing crackdown on Palestinian symbols in Israel


Alex Sinclair said he wore the kippah for 20 years and never had an issue with the law until this week (Facebook/Alex Sinclair)
Off
Israeli police detained a man wearing a kippah featuring both Palestinian and Israeli flags, then released him after cutting out the Palestinian flag, local media reported on Thursday.

The incident took place on Monday in Modi'in, central Israel.

The man, Alex Sinclair, a lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, described the encounter in a Facebook post, saying his kippah - a traditional Jewish head covering - was damaged by police.

"I was sitting in my local cafe in Modi'in," Sinclair said, adding that as he was working on his computer, "a religious man came over to me with an angry face and shouted at me that my kippah is against the law".

"For the past twenty years, almost, I've worn a kippah that has both the Israeli flag and the Palestinian flag on it," Sinclair said, adding that he told the man it was not illegal and suggested talking about it. Still, the man refused and threatened Sinclair that he would call the police.

To the lecturer's surprise, "five minutes later, the police arrive. Two officers, and they immediately tell me that my kippah is against the law and that they are going to confiscate it".

According to Sinclair's account, the police officers frisked him, before putting him in a police station cell for about 20 minutes. "As I was released from custody, the police shoved my backpack into my arms and told me to go - without my kippah".

When he asked for it back, an officer later returned it with the Palestinian flag cut out.

"She'd taken my possession, a religious ritual object, something that is very dear to my heart, and destroyed it," he wrote, sharing before-and-after images of the kippah.

He said the experience left him "shaken, angry and depressed", warning that it reflected a broader erosion of civil liberties. 

"It's hard not to say that this is the kind of thing that fascist regimes do," he said. "It's hard not to feel worried and anxious and frankly devastated that this is the direction that Israel is moving in."

Crackdown on Palestinian flags 

Since the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office in 2022, the display of the Palestinian flag - in both public and private spaces - has faced increasing restrictions.

The campaign has been led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who in January 2023 ordered police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces.

Last month, Haaretz reported that the police arrested a Palestinian woman who is an Israeli citizen for displaying the flag inside her home. 

Her family said that "she was made to step on a Palestinian flag and hold up an Israeli flag".

Why is Israel so afraid of the Palestinian flag?
Read More »

Sinclair said Ben Gvir's "unlawful" crackdown has escalated to the point where the Palestinian flag was being "banned from my head - my kippah, my religious identity itself".

Police said a complaint had been filed with the Police Internal Investigations Department, but declined further comment.

Gilad Kariv, a member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, from the opposition Democrats party, said on X: "If police officers were to cut off a Jewish man's kippah in any other country in the world, there would be an outrage here."

Kariv added that the incident "points to a profound institutional failure within the Israeli police", adding that some police officers "completely lost their professional ethos, their commitment to serving the public, and their loyalty to the law".

"The officers' conduct justifies the opening of a criminal investigation and the filing of a civil lawsuit," Kariv said.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), a civil and human rights organisation, joined Kariv in calling for an investigation of the incident.

"Once again, the Israel Police is acting in line with the minister's agenda and contrary to the law," the ACRI said in a statement, referring to Ben Gvir.

"This is sheer madness and absurdity, and a serious violation of autonomy, freedom of expression, liberty, freedom of religion, and dignity. There is no legal ban on displaying the Palestinian flag or its various forms in the public sphere," the ACRI added.

Inside Israel






Tel Aviv, Israel
News

Post Date Override
0


Update Date
Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19



Update Date Override
0




Story Timeline

Wed 23:08 - ANSA Main
Lillo in Sanremo
Sat 01:19 - ANSA Main
Sanremo 2026, the evening of covers
Mon 02:00 - La Repubblica (IT)
Sal Da Vinci's popular miracle
Wed 16:41 - The Telegraph
Water wars: the final escalation?
Thu 01:18 - Middle East Eye
Trump vows to bring Iran back to 'Stone Ages'
Thu 03:01 - Al-Monitor
Takeaways from Trump's speech on Iran
Sun 05:07 - Al Jazeera English
Trump’s unpopular war on Iran
Mon 16:39 - The Hill
Trump’s Iran ultimatum nears
Mon 21:45 - The Hill
Trump's looming deadline for Iran
Wed 12:00 - UN News All
Hundreds feared dead in Lebanon strikes
Wed 15:01 - Al Jazeera English
Israel strikes central Beirut without warning
Wed 21:59 - Al Jazeera English
Americans question Trump’s instinct on Iran war
Thu 00:55 - Middle East Eye
Syria condemns Israeli assault on Lebanon
Thu 05:19 - Middle East Eye
Israel renews attacks on southern Lebanon
Thu 12:59 - Middle East Eye
Lebanon calls for direct talks with Israel
Fri 11:00 - Al-Monitor
Giving birth in a shelter in Israel
Tue 11:48 - Al Jazeera English
Who controls the Strait of Hormuz?
Tue 15:45 - Aftenposten (NO)
Trump opens for early talks with Iran
Tue 15:54 - Financial Times
Trump says Meloni lacks courage
Tue 17:58 - Tagesschau
Trump calls Meloni "unacceptable"
Tue 22:57 - National Review
Trump vs. the Pope
Wed 03:40 - TVN24 (PL)
Trump 'shocked' by Meloni's behavior
Wed 13:32 - Washington Examiner
Trump says China agreed not to send weapons to Iran
Sat 10:48 - Al Jazeera English
Hormuz: Spin in the Strait
Sat 10:48 - Al Jazeera
Hormuz: Spin in the Strait
Sat 11:55 - Al Jazeera English
Gunfire reported by vessel in Strait of Hormuz
Mon 15:41 - Washington Examiner
Trump denies Israel pushed US into war with Iran
Tue 04:47 - Middle East Eye
Trump attacks US media over Iran war coverage
Fri 13:03 - Al Jazeera English
Negotiations that enable Israel’s land-grabs

Different Perspectives

ANSA Main
53 articles
ANSA Mondo
11 articles
ANSA Politica
7 articles
ANSA Top News
18 articles
Aftenposten (NO)
3 articles
Al Jazeera
3 articles
Al Jazeera English
94 articles
Al-Monitor
136 articles
BBC Europe
1 article
BBC Headlines
21 articles
BBC Politics
4 articles
DN (SE)
2 articles
DW
2 articles
DW All
25 articles
DW Top
25 articles
DW World
5 articles
Der Spiegel
3 articles
Die Welt
9 articles
Die Zeit Newsfeed
1 article
El Mundo (ES)
2 articles
El Pais
3 articles
Euronews
53 articles
Financial Times
2 articles
Fox News
47 articles
France 24
63 articles
Gazeta Wyborcza (PL)
1 article
HLN (BE)
4 articles
Handelsblatt Politik
1 article
La Repubblica (IT)
85 articles
Le Figaro
3 articles
Middle East Eye
150 articles
NPR
10 articles
NRK (NO)
3 articles
NYT Europe
1 article
National Review
1 article
PBS Newshour
14 articles
Politico EU
16 articles
Rzeczpospolita (PL)
1 article
SRF International
1 article
SVT Nyheter (SE)
2 articles
Sky News (UK)
4 articles
SvD (SE)
1 article
Süddeutsche Zeitung Politik
1 article
TVN24 (PL)
1 article
Tagesschau
5 articles
The Bulletin (BE)
1 article
The Guardian
11 articles
The Hill
79 articles
The Telegraph
2 articles
UN News All
8 articles
UN News Global
4 articles
UN News Middle East
2 articles
Washington Examiner
52 articles
Washington Post
13 articles
n-tv Politik
3 articles