An Israeli soccer player in the second-highest level of professional German soccer tweeted on Sunday that security forces on duty at a match between FC Ingolstadt and Union Berlin forcibly removed an Israeli flag that was brandished by a fan in the stands.
Almog Cohen, the Israeli national team player who is also a member of 2. Bundesliga side Ingolstadt, tweeted: “Today, an Israeli flag was removed during an away match against Union Berlin. This was a flag brought by German fans which was removed by local security guards. ‘No Jewish flags,’ they said. This is the only pitch in which this has happened.”
According to the German daily Bild, the decision to remove the “Jewish banner” was made due to “fear of Palestinian violence.”
“I saw how our fans were taking down the Israeli flag,” Cohen told Bild. “They told me that they have done so at the direction of the police.”
When Cohen was told that the police didn’t want political symbols waved at the match, he then asked if other flags were also banned.
“No, only the Jewish flag,” Cohen was told. “That shocked me,” he said.
