Taghreed Saadeh
Dozens of Palestinians, Arabs and Canadians supporting the Palestinian right organized yesterday in the center of the Canadian province of Alberta / Edmonton, a rally in which the Palestinian flags were raised in protest against the decision of the Israeli occupation authorities to prevent the raising of Palestinian flags inside the occupied Palestine. Banners in support of Palestinian rights were also raised.
The march roamed the streets of the city center, and the participants chanted slogans calling for an end to the Israeli occupation, the liberation of Palestine, and the rule of justice and human rights in the occupied Palestine.
The participants in the march wore Palestinian keffiyehs.
The Canadian Palestinian Cultural Association in Edmonton called for the march to protest against the Israeli decision to ban the raising of Palestinian flags in public places inside occupied Palestine. The CPCA wishes to spread awareness about the Palestinian cause and the oppression they are facing by the occupation.
The Palestinians consider the Palestinian flag as a symbol of struggle and identity.
The new Israeli Minister of Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right, issued instructions two weeks ago to remove Palestinian flags from public places.
Ben Gvir’s decision came after the release of one of the oldest Palestinian detainees in the occupation prisons, Karim Younes, and Younes waved the Palestinian flag while receiving a hero’s welcome in his village, Arara, inside the Green Line.
Ben Gvir’s statement included that waving the Palestinian flag was an act of support for terrorism, adding that “violators of the law cannot wave terrorist flags and incite and encourage terrorism, so I ordered the removal of flags supporting terrorism from public places and the cessation of incitement against Israel.”
The Canadian media that covered the march faced on social media criticism from Jews in Canada, who considered that the media covering the march called for spreading hatred against Israel.
In tweets published on a site Honest reporting Canada number of Jews reiterated that the Palestinian flag is a flag of terrorism and not a flag of struggle as they claim and they attacked the participants in the protest.
