Opinion | Anti-Incitement Laws - and the Leaking Umbrella of "Freedom of Expression" | Israel Hayom

Exactly a year ago, as part of the coalition between Lieberman and Mansour Abbas, a law was proposed to prohibit the flying of PLO flags in Israeli universities. The media then chose to present the arguments supporting the proposal. The voice of Tel Aviv University President Prof. Ariel Porat was not heard; Nor did he and his colleagues in academia call the bill "fascist." From reports at the time, it was not clear what the sanctions or penalties were.

The law focused on flying flags, and came up shortly after Independence Day and Nakba Day. At Ben-Gurion University, there was an outrageous and inciting firefighter event. Mayor Robbie Danilovich sent an angry letter to the university.

Then-Education Minister Yifat Shasha Biton also supported the bill, which passed a preliminary reading: "I saw what was happening in academic institutions, the raising of the flag came together with provocation and was usually accompanied by incitement and calls of praise for 'martyrs' and constitute explosives."

The Symbolic Message of Incitement Ceremonies

Prof. Porat's concept of democracy, as expressed in his letter against the current bill, raises doubts about his understanding of the foundations of democracy. The Nakba ceremonies that have taken root in Israel and on campuses, and the mass waving of Palestinian flags, coincide with an ongoing process of refraining universities from voicing hope or singing the national anthem at university ceremonies, in order to avoid "hurting the feelings" of many students.

The serious process is the consistent and ongoing weakening of the universities' resistance mechanisms to the propaganda apparatus of the terrorist organizations, which have gained a foothold in the heart of the campus.

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MK Ayman Odeh insisted on this and spoke cynically about the pathetic attempt of the Jewish democratic state to defend itself against the onslaught of psychological warfare against it. "It won't help you," he said a year ago when Eli Cohen's Likud bill came up. "Seven years ago, the Knesset banned the commemoration of Nakba Day. Since then, the number of participants has been increasing, and there are many small children marching with the Palestinian flag. It won't help you... You deny the Nakba... From now on you will see many Palestinian flags."

The incitement ceremonies convey the symbolic message that PLO flag bearers aspire to destroy the State of Israel. Is democracy supposed to protect events that are part of the struggle to destroy democracy in Israel? The heads of the universities do not foolishly distinguish between the freedom to analyze history and express on paper the case against the existence of the State of Israel, and propaganda action that is part of the Palestinian national struggle to destroy the state.

Not to mention that the propaganda events at the heart of the Israeli campus are intended to terrorize Jewish students, for whom the campus in their homeland has become a threatening place, such as the BDS-infused US campuses and organizations that champion the struggle against Jews, Israel and Zionism.

Few in Israel still remember the Nazis and their collaborators law (1950). Alongside the "crimes against humanity" and "war crimes" sections, punishment is also established for "crimes against the Jewish people." First Prime Minister Ben-Gurion, for example, thought that under this law the death penalty should have been applied to terrorists. One of the sections of the law states that it also applies to "incitement to hatred of Jews."

We have passed endless laws against incitement. But in today's State of Israel, let's face it, one of the most significant legislative crimes against crimes against the Jewish people surely falls under the leaky umbrella of "freedom of speech."

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