Last month, Palestinian residents of Umm al-Fahm, a town in northern Israel predominantly populated by Arab citizens of Israel, protested against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and the political arrest and administrative detention of Palestinians. Despite being a licensed demonstration, the protest, which was joined by Israeli and international solidarity activists, was violently suppressed by the Israeli police, who blocked the road, confiscated signs and Palestinian flags, and arrested an Israeli activist named Eran Maoz.
Israeli police accused Maoz of waving a Palestinian flag and assaulting a police officer, charges which Maoz denies, according to a court hearing transcript obtained by The Progressive from the Human Rights Defenders Fund. While waving a Palestinian flag is legal under Israeli law, far-right Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir has previously instructed Israeli police to confiscate them. During Maoz’s court hearing, the police stated that “waving a Palestinian flag is considered an act of inciting violence, especially during a time of war.” The prosecutor claimed that the activist “goes to protests to create a provocation in order to harm security personnel.”
In an effort to challenge the legitimacy of the Israeli legal system, Maoz, who represented himself in court, refused to cooperate with the Israeli courts.
“I do not recognize [the court’s] authority, and do not have to and will not answer to it, even if it comes at the price of my freedom, which is not more important than the people in Gaza being slaughtered,” he said. In a follow-up court hearing, Maoz stated, “The court is able to expel me from an area without my consent . . . . [It] is one of three governing authorities that is carrying out genocide in Gaza.”
Despite requests from the Israeli police to keep Maoz detained, the judge—who stated in court that “the investigation is not progressing at an appropriate rate”—unilaterally released the activist on May 28, but not before sentencing him with a thirty-day ban from attending any protest in Umm al-Fahm. The judge also obligated him to “appear before the police on demand” and to “refrain from participating in illegal protests” for ten days. “Illegal protests” may refer to protests that do not have the necessary permits, or to protests that the police deem illegal after they have started. Maoz did not verbally accept these conditions, but they are in legal effect.
This is not the first time Maoz has refused to cooperate with the court. In May 2024, after Maoz was arrested at a protest in Haifa, Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi reported that “the court ordered [Maoz’s] release on the condition that he be expelled from Haifa for thirty days and pay a 2,000 shekel fine,” but that “Eran [Maoz] refused to sign the papers, insisting on his unconditional release.”
Maoz is not the first left-wing activist to refuse to cooperate with the Israeli legal system. Jonathan Pollak, Israeli citizen and founder of Anarchists Against the Wall, has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of Israel’s courts and police. In addition to refusing to cooperate with courts, Pollak, despite being an Israeli citizen who enjoys the liberties of the Israeli civil legal system, has also demanded to be tried under the Israeli military court to which Palestinians are subjected. He has also elected to not call the police when assaulted by right-wing extremist settlers, stating “The police is the last place in the world I’d go to for protection.” Pollak was present at Maoz’s court hearings.
Activists like Maoz and Pollack are challenging the authority of modern states which so many of us take for granted. As seen in Maoz’s recent case, this form of civil disobedience can also highlight divisions between the judiciary and the police, and show onlookers that the police themselves often drag their feet in legal proceedings. Maoz also aims to highlight that the Israeli court system serves only to make Israel appear democratic.
“The Israeli court system,” he said during a court appearance, “is the supposedly democratic tag of a murderous state that has been carrying out a genocidal campaign in Gaza for over a year and a half.”