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Israel advances bill banning raising Palestine flag on campuses 

May 30, 2022 at 3:00 pm

A Palestinian man waves the Palestinian flag during a protest in the West Bank on 10 December 2021 [Nedal Eshtayah/Anadolu Agency]

The Israeli Knesset’s Ministerial Committee on Legislation yesterday approved a bill that would ban raising the Palestinian flag in institutions that are funded or sponsored by the Israeli government, the Times of Israel reported.

The bill comes days after Palestinian university students raised the Palestinian flag in Israeli universities to commemorate the Nakba (Catastrophe), the day Palestinians were forced out of their homes by Zionist militias to make way for the establishment of the state of Israel.

The Israeli parliamentary committee granted members of the ruling coalition the right to vote on the bill, which is sponsored by the right-wing Likud MK Eli Cohen.

“The Ministerial Committee on Legislation decided to grant coalition lawmakers freedom to vote as they choose when the bill comes up for a reading in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday. Generally, coalition MKs are expected to maintain discipline in votes,” the paper added.

Israel Hayom’s Hebrew said the bill is expected to pass given the right-wing orientation of the ruling coalition.

READ: Racist Israeli flag march raises concerns about threat to status quo in occupied Jerusalem