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Opinion The flag, its meaning and life without it Israel today

2022-12-22T07:06:01.600Z


Would it be conceivable in today's Ukraine to disappear the blue-yellow flag and raise the Russian flag? In Britain fighting Germany in World War II, would they hide the "Union Jack"?


Even the obvious should be said sometimes, Menachem Begin once observed, and paraphrasing his words it can be said that the obvious should always be done.

The hoisting of the national flag and the ban on hoisting enemy flags belong to the same category of the self-evident.

Or at least, should be taken for granted in any healthy human society.

The United States is known for having the Stars and Stripes flag placed in every classroom in hundreds of thousands of schools across this vast country, but it is certainly not alone.

In fact, I have not come across any nation that is ashamed of its flag, until I was exposed to the voices calling for the national flag to be removed from the public arena, specifically in Israel.

The attempt to damage the status of the flag comes from the same place that grew the campaign against the national anthem "Hope" and the opposition to the Basic Law, which defined Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, and it is no coincidence that those who seek to reduce the exposure of the Magen David flag outside of Israel defend in the same breath the attempts to wave it in defiance At the same time they are actually flying the PLO flag.

It makes so much sense: those who are not interested in the existence of the Jewish state want to erase its symbolic expression emblazoned on the flag, and replace it with the flag of an entity working to eliminate Jewish existence in the Land of Israel.

In this context, MK Nissim Vettori's bill is to be welcomed, the purpose of which is to fight both blows.

According to the bill, the Israeli flag will be displayed in classrooms in primary and elementary schools, as well as in classrooms and study halls in higher education institutions.

At the same time, waving a flag associated with a terrorist organization will be banned in these state-funded institutions.

Both measures are so self-evident that the only surprising thing is that they are not yet included in the Israeli law book.    

Could anyone have imagined that in Britain fighting against Germany in World War II they would hide the "Union Jack" and wave the Nazi flag?

Can anyone imagine in today's Ukraine to disappear the blue-yellow flag and raise the flag of Russia?

It is clear to everyone that the answer to these two questions is negative, and only in Israel, which is still fighting for its existence as a Jewish state, are there those who question our national flag and allow the flag of those who come after us to be our brides. 

But the national flag is important not only during an existential war.

Those who watched the World Cup broadcasts could once again be convinced of the power embodied in the flag for billions of people, regardless of their skin color, culture or geographic origin.

Fans from dozens of countries waved their flags proudly, to say to the whole world: This is me, this is my identity, and this identity has a place on the globe.

Contrary to them, those who try to push the Israeli flag out of the classrooms and study halls and plant the PLO flag in its place say that Jews have no place under the sun.

In his well-known letter to Baron Hirsch, Theodor Herzl wrote that the flag is not just a pole and a piece of cloth.

For the flag the people live and for it they also die, he explained passionately, and he was right in every word.

In order for us to live in a free country, the Israeli flag should be everywhere.

In order not to die, the PLO flag should be out of bounds. 

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Source: israelhayom

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