Activists remove Israeli flags from bypass roads

In a new show of solidarity with hunger-striking prisoners, a group of young Palestinians removed Israeli flags from main bypass roads between cities in the northern West Bank early Saturday. The popular resistance activists replaced them with Palestinian flags, according to Ibrahim Burnat, one of the activists. He told Ma’an that a group of young men left Ramallah at 3 a.m. to complete the task. On one of the main roads between Ramallah and Nablus, activists quickly scaled ladders to reach the Israeli flags on electricity poles and replaced them with Palestinian flags. The campaign "angered Israeli settlers," Burnat said. However, he added, there were no confrontations between them and the activists and the task was completed quickly and quietly. Burnat said a series of similar efforts were underway, but he declined to disclose the details "because they will also be performed secretly." The activists do not want to give their group a name because its goal is to support the Palestinian cause, not partisan agendas, he said. Meanwhile, Jerusalem-based blogger Maath Musleh reported on Twitter that "The Israeli flags that were removed from Nablus - Ramallah road will be burned" in central Ramallah.