German city bans Israel flag – again
The city of Kassel in the German state of Hesse has issued a ban on the display of an Israeli flag at an information stand planned on Saturday by the group Alliance Against Anti-Semitism (AAAS).
According to a report Friday on the Web site of German news outlet Nordhessische, local authorities justified the prohibition at the event to combat anti-Semitism because the “Israeli flag could disturb pedestrians” and they could feel “threatened” by the expression of the flag of the Jewish state. […]
According to numerous observers in Germany, authorities are quick to punish pro-Israel Germans who display Israeli flags and Hebrew signs, while permitting violent incitement against Jews and Israelis at rallies organized by Muslims and Left Party members. A student in the industrial city of Bochum was fined €300 in September for waving an Israeli flag as a counterprotest at an anti-Israel rally where demonstrators invoked inflammatory, hate-driven rhetoric against the Jewish state.