Berlin to ban Hezbollah flags from anti-Israel march

The Berlin State Senate has agreed to ban Hezbollah flags, with their image of an upraised assault weapon, from an anti-Israel Al Quds march, likening the symbol to a call for genocide.

The announcement comes following a request by the American Jewish Committee in Berlin. The march is scheduled for Saturday.

Berlin state interior minister Frank Henkel, on the advice of the Berlin police, says that the flags would be added to the list of propaganda material that is not permitted to be displayed publicly.

A spokesperson for the Berlin police, Thomas Neuendorf, tells JTA that not only are Hezbollah flags banned, but Hezbollah symbols themselves may not be shown at all – whether on flags or posters or clothing or any other manner.

This is due to the fact that “the display of these flags and symbols can be tantamount to incitement to hate, in that they prompt people to chant hate slogans against a part of the population, namely Jewish fellow citizens,” he writes in a statement. “In addition, such actions represent an identification with and approval of Hezbollah and their acts that, in relation to the upcoming march, without current context, are not protected free speech.”

— JTA