Tearing Down Pro-Palestinian Sign
Question
Today I saw a sticker on a lamppost that said “Free Palestine.” I was tempted to remove it. To do so would be legal. The law where I live is that anyone is allowed to remove anything someone else puts on a public lamppost, whether it be advertising or something political.
Then I was thinking of all the “kidnapped” signs for the hostages that all the anti-Israel people ripped down out of hate. I also thought of the saying from Hillel that the Torah can be summarized by in one line by saying not to do to another what you would not want someone to do to you.
As awful as it sounds to me, the “Free Palestine” slogan is someone exercising their freedom of speech. And I would not want someone ripping off my sign that I pinned up, especially one in support of Israel.
What is the proper thing to do?
Answers
What a fascinating conundrum. There is absolutely no comparison between the posters that are put up to draw awareness about the hostages, and the posters that call for a “Free Palestine.” The posters for the hostages are trying to appeal to basic humanity. There is nothing genocidal about them. Just as there is nothing remotely offensive about them. They are simply an attempt to get people to understand that the hostages were kidnapped by barbaric savages who do not care about human life. The “Free Palestine” posters, on the other hand, are a call for the destruction of the Jewish State. They are a call for the destruction of the Jewish nation. They are a call for genocide. And they should be removed when possible, but not if there is even the slightest chance that it might cause any harm to the person taking them down.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team