A large Palestinian flag that was hung alongside the Israeli flag on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building in Ramat Gan Wednesday morning was removed several hours later after stirring public furor.
The flags waved side by side under a banner reading "we were meant to live together".
Palestinian flag hung from Tel Aviv building removed
(Video: Shaul Golan)
Progressive left movement Mehazkim claimed responsibility for the sign, saying it came in protest of a proposed bill to ban the waving of Palestinian flags in educational institutions spurred by two pro-Palestinian rallies at Tel Aviv University and Ben Gurion University.
Mehazkim director and founder Ori Kol said that he was not disheartened by the decision to remove the flag and that his group will press on.
"There are still two nations here, and within them Jews and Arabs that will continue to fight for a common future. The sign was just the beginning," he said.
"There is no law in the world that will erase the fact that two nations live here and there is not a single democracy that prohibits waving flags of a national minority that makes up more than 20 percent of the country's citizens."
Despite public protest, similar banners were also hung in Nazareth and Tira.
Throughout the day, passersby near the banner were heard exclaiming "shame", "I'm embarrassed to be a resident of this city", and "it's a sad day for Ramat Gan". Some people even traveled from outside the city to see it for themselves.
"I see this and tears fill my eyes," said Uzi, a Ramat Gan resident. "Who signed off on this filth? Where is the mayor? In the heart of our country, a country whose finest sons sacrificed their lives, the flag of the enemy is proudly waved."
Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen said he did not approve despite the activist group claiming otherwise.
"The advertising firm decided to hang the controversial sign," he wrote on Facebook.
"A legal examination had ruled that the sign is totally legal and protected by the right to free speech, but it still hurts the feelings of a sizeable part of residents and paves the way for extremist elements to simmer tensions despite the positive message that calls for coexistence."
On Monday, Shama-Hacohen posted a survey on Facebook that asked the city's residents to vote for or against hanging the Palestinian flag. Although the majority voted against it, the flag was put up nonetheless.
An outraged Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu also protested the banner and took the opportunity to slam the government, which features the Islamist Ra'am party, for "capitulating to terror."