Israeli Police Cut Palestinian Flag From Lecturer’s Kippah After Detention

Israeli police have been accused of political repression and abuse of power after detaining a university lecturer and cutting a Palestinian flag from his kippah—an act critics say lays bare the state’s increasingly coercive approach to dissent.

Dr Alex Sinclair, an educator from the city of Modi’in, was reportedly sitting in a café wearing a kippah embroidered with both Israeli and Palestinian flags when he was confronted by police. The symbol, which he has worn for years, reflects a political and ethical commitment to coexistence—one that officers appeared unwilling to tolerate.

According to Sinclair’s account, police were called by a passerby who objected to the Palestinian flag. Officers then claimed—incorrectly—that displaying the flag was illegal, and attempted to confiscate the kippah. When Sinclair refused, he was detained, searched, and briefly held in a cell.

He was released shortly afterwards. But when his kippah was returned, the Palestinian flag had been cut out.

The act—carried out while the item was in police custody—has been widely condemned as a deliberate destruction of personal property and a symbolic erasure of Palestinian identity.