As a girl educated within the walls of an American public school, it would not have seemed more natural to me to stand every morning, to look up at the proud flag in the classroom and recite the American anthem with the other students.
This routine, to which tens of thousands of children from all countries, religions and sectors are accustomed, also played a significant role in cultural, recreational and leisure events and drank tradition.
Hence, events such as "Flag Day," in which American society as a whole "celebrates its flag," are taken for granted.
Against this background, the calls of the "Abraham Initiatives" association and members of mixed city councils "to avoid provocations and flames" in the context of the flagship initiative planned for Sunday, the eighth candle of Hanukkah, in the cities of Lod and Ramla - to "strengthen the trampled national pride" That there is a gap between the basic logic inherent in the existence of the parade of flags and the irrationality inherent in it.
On the one hand, the ripples that appeared before and after the flag parade in the capital have not yet subsided. Hamas threats calling on Israeli Arabs to march toward the Old City to "protect the al-Aqsa Mosque" and cancel the march, along with Palestinian media reports that reported that "the incendiary balloon unit in Gaza is back in action," will ignite the fervor that gripped some marchers at the time. Some of them even dramatized the phrase "right hand does not know immediately left", when they found themselves shouting slogans such as "death to the Arabs" and "the village will burn you" while carrying the flags in their hands. The wounds caused by the clashes, first between the security forces and young people in East Jerusalem and later between Jewish and Arab residents in a number of cities involved in Israel, have not yet healed. This fact in itself ostensibly provides a logical argument for calling for "calming the winds," even at the cost of canceling the planned parade.
On the other hand, like any symbol, so does a flag, embodying an abstract idea folded into it. The folding of flags and the relinquishment of national historical assets, whether in Jerusalem or in other cities in Israel, due to threats from terrorist organizations and other evil seekers, do not reconcile with the characteristics of a sovereign state. And as evidence, if we move away from the charged Israeli space, it will be difficult to imagine Western countries that will accept equally the idea that such or other factors will dictate to them why, how much, when and where their national flags will be raised, in their borders.
This approach is not surprising, since the visual message expressed in the flag-raising of the flag is a beacon illuminating the values of any modern country.
Hence, perhaps the fact that the State of Israel did not set its official "flag day" for itself during its 74 years of independence did not anchor the flag's presence at educational and cultural events as a matter of routine, nor did it root out the sense of pride and belonging that led to a flag parade. In the capital - on the occasion of Jerusalem Day and once in Lod and Ramla - to mark the eighth day of Hanukkah) evokes passions, which do not reconcile with the emotional charge that the flag, according to basic logic, is supposed to evoke.
As long as this is the policy, we should not be surprised that future flag parades, at other locations or times, will arouse exactly the same passions.
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