I am used to going up on Har Habayit to the sad tune of a prayer book being considered contraband. Our instructions by the police prior to ascending, and the body search we undergo, are to ensure no prayer books are being brought on to Har HaBayit.
Now there is a new type of contraband. I am not sure if it is more serious or less, but it is being taken as a serious threat by the police. That would be the Israeli flag.
Some people who ascended Har Habayit yesterday, on Yom HaAtzmaut, related how they had to undergo humiliating searches on their body to ensure they were not carrying, or hiding, any Israeli flags. Not just the usual emptying of the pockets with perhaps a pat-down. People were asked to take off the shirts, and police gave a full-body feel-up, similar things we have heard being done by the TSA in the USA...
The Israeli police are no longer just afraid of prayer books, but also of the Israeli flag. Amazing to think that on Yom HaAtzmaut the Israeli police's biggest fear for Har Habayit is that an Israeli flag might be flown.
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