Berlin police will actively prevent the burning of Israeli flags at demonstrations, following pressure from the Jewish community, according to a report in the Die Welt newspaper, cited on Tuesday by Yisrael Hayom. The police plan to enforce the new regulation at a demonstration to be held this evening by the Arab community in Berlin as part of a general prohibition on burning objects.
According to German law, the burning of a flag is not considered an offense, unless the flag serves as a national symbol and positioned on a mast or building of a public or state institution. In the wake of the recent demonstrations, the Central Council of German Jews called for a change in the law, while simultaneously banning or dispersing anti-Semitic demonstrations. "Whoever burns Israeli flags challenges Israel's right to exist," explains the council's president, Yosef Schuster. "These are clearly anti-Semitic demonstrations, which must not be approved in the first place."