You Can't Arrest Someone for a Crime that Doesn't Exist
- ACRI
- Mar 9
- 1 min read
On March 9, 2026, ACRI contacted the State Attorney and senior police officials following the arrest of a resident of Umm al-Fahm on suspicion of "harming symbols of government," after a video was found on his phone of him giving a police station the middle finger. In the appeal, Attorney Hagar Shechter clarified that the crime of "harming symbols of government" does not exist in Israeli law, and that therefore this is an arrest without any legal basis.
Arresting someone for a crime that does not exist is not only ridiculous, it is also a serious violation of an individual’s rights. This arrest is even more serious because the person was arrested for a permitted expression: a person is allowed to film themself pointing the middle finger at a police station—and the individual who was arrested also never posted the video. The gesture may be vulgar, but it is still within the scope of freedom of expression. Moreover, Arab society has been subject to extensive silencing, and this kind of arrest sends yet another message not only to the individual arrested, but to Arab society more broadly.
The appeal asks for an examination of the circumstances of the arrest, that the police officers involved face consequences, and that it be clarified to all police officers, and to the police officers of the Umm al-Fahm station in particular, that they do not have the authority to arrest a person who has not committed an arrestable offense.
ACRI's appeal, March 9, 2026 (Heb)
