‘Freedom of expression should be obvious’ says academic whose kippah was cut up by police over Palestinian flag

Alex Sinclair, an academic who was detained by police for wearing a kippah featuring Israeli and Palestinian flags last month, says during a Knesset committee hearing that it “should be obvious” that freedom of expression is a key democratic principle in Israel, and expresses concern that the issue even needed to be addressed.

Sinclair is speaking in a hearing of the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee initiated by committee chairman MK Gilad Kariv to address the incident, as well as repeated incidents in which Jewish civil rights activists from the Diaspora have been arrested by police during activities aimed at assisting rural Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and deported and banned from the country by the Interior Ministry.

“We live in a liberal democratic state. And in liberal democratic states, you need to respect unpopular opinions,” Sinclair tells the committee.

“This is the meaning of liberal democracy, to respect, to listen and to be considerate of opinions you don’t agree with.”

Sinclair describes this value as “a foundational principle in Judaism,” and points to the Talmud and the many opinions expressed in its pages as evidence that a key principle of Judaism is “the value of respecting and listening to opinions you don’t agree with.”

Adds Sinclair: “In my eyes, it’s a bit odd that we’re even talking about this. It should be something which is so obvious — that there is freedom of expression in the state of Israel.”

Sinclair was detained in April by police while sitting in a cafe in the city of Modiin, had his phone and kippah confiscated and was locked in a police cell for 20 minutes before being released. When he asked for his kippah, a police officer cut out the Palestinian flag from it and returned the remains to Sinclair.

Kariv describes the incident as a “red flag” which demonstrated a “disparaging attitude towards liberal Jews” by state authorities, and asserts that Diaspora Jewry is becoming worried by such incidents and attitudes.

“Dr. Sinclair wore this kippah for 20 years, and it is obvious that Diaspora Jewry is upset when a person’s kippah is cut up in the Jewish state, while the entire world is dealing with antisemitism,” says Kariv.