In the US, you May Burn the US Flag, but not the Israeli Flag

Man indicted for allegedly burning Israeli flag during protests at Columbia University
AARON KATERSKY
Mon, September 9, 2024

A Brooklyn man has been indicted on charges accusing him of burning an Israeli flag during a protest last spring at Columbia University in New York City.

The indictment charged James Carlson, 40, with criminal mischief and arson.

Carlson pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on Monday and was released on his own recognizance. ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment.

During a protest in April at the Manhattan university, a witness, who is Jewish, said another protester stole his Israeli flag, prosecutors said. Before the witness could retrieve the flag from the other protester, Carlson allegedly seized it and began burning it with a lighter but was thwarted from fully lighting the flag on fire when the witness pulled it away, according to prosecutors.

"This defendant's alleged activity went beyond legal and peaceful protest. Committing arson in a crowded protest endangers the safety of others, and this type of behavior will not be tolerated," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. "We will continue to work closely with the NYPD and local colleges and universities to ensure the safety of students, staff and community members during any protest or demonstration."

The protest movement connected to the Israel-Hamas war began in April at Columbia and swept across college campuses nationwide.

Meanwhile, as Columbia University began its new semester on Tuesday, the pro-Palestine demonstrations continue to divide its campus, despite an overwhelming repression of pro-Palestinian demonstrators and students and a biased backing for pro-Zionist measures in occupied Palestine.

On the first day of the school term this week, demonstrators gathered at the school's gates as an NYPD police drone hovered over their heads - although there were at least two arrests, according to the agency, police categorized the gatherings as "peaceful."

Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson, president of the Legal Insurrection Foundation said that he did not foresee campus relations improving soon. "I think we're going to see a crescendo of intimidation and hostility as we approach October 7," he said, referring to the anniversary of Hamas' attack on southern Israel, during which Palestinian resistance fighters took hostages and killed Israeli civilians and soldiers, In reprisals worthy of a Bronze Age biblical eye-for-an-eye vengeance, Israeli forces have killed 41,000 innocent Palestinians, of whom two-thirds are women and children, destroyed every aspect of normal life in Gaza, including hospitals, schools, shelters and international aid operations, and is savagely starving the population.

Columbia's former president, Nemat Shafik, resigned last month after her handling of protesters on campus "[took] a considerable toll on [her] family." Sparks had flown after Shafik, the school's third president over an eight-month period, called in hundreds of armed police officers to arrest over 30 pro-Palestine protesters.

Now, interim president Katrina Armstrong is tasked with maintaining order on the embattled campus. Since she took her position, new restrictions and changes have been made on campus in an attempt to control the conflict, according to the school's updated code of conduct.

Camping is now banned on the school's campus, with new signs and guards dotting the school's south lawns, according to Reuters. Gates to the campus that were kept open to surrounding streets for decades have been closed under a new system that restricts access to students, with guards only allowing those with Columbia IDs and preregistered guests to enter. Officials have set up fences and gates on wheels around campus, which will be used to cordon off small areas.

Because of the repression of free speech and the heavy-handed pro-Israel and anti-Palestine bias, the non-profit Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression ranked Columbia in 250th place - second to last - in its annual College Free Speech Rankings.

"Surrounding my campus has been a 'doxxing truck' since October 2023, wherein students who express any criticism of Israel are identified by their full name and a giant picture under the label 'Antisemite of the Week' on a large truck with a digital screen," one rising junior told the surveyors.

"Students have reported this to the administration multiple times, and they did nothing for months. Friends of mine have also lost jobs and internship opportunities because of their political beliefs," the student said.

In an effort to combat hostility on campus, Columbia created an Antisemitism Task Force, supposedly to monitor anti-Jewish activities, but rampant hostility toward Arab, Muslim and Palestinian students and faculty has not been met with an equal degree of concern despite mounting complaints from students who are harassed eveery day for their Muslim faith or for wearing the Palestinian headscarf on campus.

"It would not surprise me that schools with the most activism have the least free expression, said one faculty member. "These are not measures to foster a healthy debate on the Palestine issue; these are measures meant to stifle a debate on the fundamental question in the Middle East: Should Palestinians obtain their internationally-recognized self-determination, or should they continue to be ruled by a violent and repressive, and frankly genocidal, foreign occupation?"

When asked for comment on the purported lack of free expression on campus, interim president Armstrong reiterated a portion of a recent message sent to students.

"Everyone needs to feel engaged, that their voices matter and that they belong here," Armstrong wrote. "Protests need to be managed effectively and fairly. That requires holding two truths at once. The truth is that our mission depends upon free speech and open debate. And the truth that our mission equally depends upon an environment free of harassment and discrimination, where our students can learn. There is no doubt that holding those two truths requires understanding and effectively implementing our policies, rules and procedures, just as it does in the society around us."

In Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), the US Supreme Court (https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/free-speech-flag-burning_1.pdf) ruled 5 to 4) agreed with Johnson and held that flag burning constitutes a form of "symbolic speech" that is protected by the First Amendment. So even as US citizens are protected against arbitray arrest for burning the US flag during a protest, US citizens may not burn the Israeli flag. That should be enough to tell you who dictates United States policy, especially in regard to the Zionist colony in Palestine.