Controversial artist arrested for defecating on state flag

A provocative Israeli artist, who posted online a video of herself defecating on the country’s national flag, has been placed under house arrest, police said on Monday.

Natali Cohen Vaxberg, who has gained notoriety for similar stunts, was detained for questioning and placed under house arrest in Tel Aviv until Wednesday for defiling a national symbol, a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Police are to decide whether to press charges.

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Cohen Vaxberg’s video, entitled “Shit Instead of Blood,” features her in a bathroom squatting over — and defecating on — various national flags from the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas, including those of Israel and the Palestinians.

The video, first posted in mid-July, is overlaid with music by classical composer Frederic Chopin.

Cohen Vaxberg, who is described by local media as holding extreme-left-wing views, earlier in 2014 courted controversy in another video filmed at Jerusalem’s Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem.

In that video, she gives a speech posing as the Holocaust itself and saying it was the “best thing” to happen to Jews, because it led to the creation of Israel and the persecution of Palestinians.