Vienna police charge 3 men for waving Israeli flag at rally - Polidicks

[URL]http://www.jpost.com/International/Vienna-police-charge-3-men-for-waving-Israeli-flag-at-rally-533313[/URL] [QUOTE]The Vienna police are pursuing criminal charges against three pro-Israel activists for waving an Israeli flag in protest of antisemitic slogans at a demonstration against Jerusalem having been recognized by the US as the capital of the Jewish state. The police are seeking a €100 fine or two days in jail for the activists, who showed support for Israel at the December 8 anti-Israel rally near the US Embassy in Austria’s capital. The criminal notice, dated January 3, states that the activists “showed an Israeli flag at a rally in an extremely provocative way and manner that was visible for participants at the rally and thereby produced considerable offense and provocation among the Palestinian protesters.”[/QUOTE]

Not surprised, most countries don't want to add oil to fire, they rather not encourage any further provocation whatever it is you are protesting.

[QUOTE=Ignhelper;53043065]Not surprised, most countries don't want to add oil to fire, they rather not encourage any further provocation whatever it is you are protesting.[/QUOTE] If you read the article, the pro-Israeli demonstrators claim they were counter-protesting a demonstration where people were chanting about murdering Jews, which the police were supposedly completely fine with (possibly because they were chanting in Arabic), but took down the Israeli flag and the people who flew it after the opposing protesters attacked *them*, because apparently they were provoking them with the flag. The people who attacked the flag wavers were supposedly released and allowed to continue demonstrating.

[QUOTE=Ignhelper;53043065]Not surprised, most countries don't want to add oil to fire, they rather not encourage any further provocation whatever it is you are protesting.[/QUOTE] I don’t think you realize how ridiculously stupid this situation is to try and justify fining counter protestors for waving a flag.

[QUOTE=Dave_Parker;53043108]Honestly up in the air here. If the counter-protest was allowed by authorities and kept to the rules then the fines are bullshit. If they just showed up and went right up to the original protest, that's not okay.[/QUOTE] It depends on the full situation on how the counter protestors conducted themselves, but as far as I can tell in the article it seems they didn’t do anything infringing.

[QUOTE=Ignhelper;53043065]Not surprised, most countries don't want to add oil to fire, they rather not encourage any further provocation whatever it is you are protesting.[/QUOTE] I remember once a few Palestinians were arrested for waving flags of Palestine in an Israeli soccer game in Europe and many facepunchers said its unfair. Do you think its the same case?

[QUOTE=RzDat;53043193]I remember once a few Palestinians were arrested for waving flags of Palestine in an Israeli soccer game in Europe and many facepunchers said its unfair. Do you think its the same case?[/QUOTE] I mean it's a different situation, but I don't think civilians should be fined for waving any flag in any situation. Of coarse that don't change people's opinions of one, but one should still be able to do it. It's a fucking flag, a piece of fucking cloth, the amount of idolization people place on flags is fucking crazy.