Adalah Calls for Investigation following Israeli Police Raid on Communist Party Offices in Umm al-Fahem and Unlawful Seizure of Palestinian Flags

On 3 May 2026, Adalah sent an urgent letter to Israeli Attorney General (AG) Gali Baharav-Miara calling for an investigation and disciplinary action to be taken against police officers involved in the raid on the Communist Party’s offices in Umm al-Fahem on 1 May 2026, as well as the seizure of Palestinian flags displayed on the premises, carried out without a judicial warrant and without any legal basis.

Dr. Suhad Bishara, Adalah’s Legal Director, sent the letter. She noted that officers entered the premises without legal authority, in clear violation of the Criminal Procedure Law, given that none of the legally recognized exceptions permitting entry into private premises without a warrant applied in this case. She added that the seizure of flags was arbitrary and unlawful, since raising the Palestinian flag does not, in itself, constitute a criminal offense and cannot serve as grounds for suspecting criminal activity that would justify a police raid.

The letter further emphasized this raid was not an isolated incident, but part of a recurring pattern of systematic police misconduct in relation to political activity by Palestinian citizens of Israel. It also noted that police have previously carried out similar raids on other Communist Party-affiliated offices and clubs in other cities, including Nazareth in 2023 and 2024. These operations also included unlawful entries carried out without judicial warrants and the seizure of Palestinian flags, with no steps taken to date to hold those responsible to account.

In her letter, Attorney Bishara stressed that these actions violate the rights to freedom of political association and freedom of expression, as well as unlawful interference in the activities of a political party represented in the Knesset. She added that the ongoing nature of these violations, in the absence of concrete measures to halt them, effectively renders the AG’s directives meaningless and provides cover for unlawful conduct.

Therefore Adalah called for an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the incident, disciplinary measures to be taken against those responsible for issuing and carrying out the orders, and for safeguards to be established to prevent such violations from recurring and to ensure that the police act in accordance with the law. Adalah also emphasized that the AG’s position, as well as Israeli Supreme Court rulings, clearly establish that raising the Palestinian flag is not prohibited by law, and that any restriction on this right must be based on a clear and specific legal foundation, absent in this case.

Attorney Bishara stated: “The police’s unlawful mode of operation must cease immediately. It is unacceptable that the Attorney General and oversight bodies responsible for law enforcement continue to fail to fulfil their duties in supervising and restraining the exploitation of police powers in service of political agendas, including those of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Such actions strike at the core of political rights and freedom of expression. The fact that these violations are allowed to persist without accountability sends a deeply troubling message that law enforcement authorities are effectively operating above the law, in what appears to be a systematic pattern of improper collusion.”