Controversy at University of Applied Arts Prague: Palestinian Flags Hung Without Permission

The management of the University of Applied Arts in Prague had to deal with a situation where someone hung Palestinian flags in the windows of the school. When the university found out about it, it ordered the flags to be taken down.

In a statement to Seznam Zpravy, the UMPRUM management said that Palestinian flags were hung in the building on Jan Palach Square without the permission of the school management and the academic community.

In the opinion of the school management, it is written that individual students, as well as UMPRUM graduates, who reported to the act, explained the hanging of the flags in the opinion sent to the management of the school.

“The signatories express their solidarity with the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and highlight the seriousness of the humanitarian crisis there. This statement greatly helped the debate within the school and allows to counter the fear of support for terrorism, however, it does not solve the one-sided nature of hanging the flags ,” UMPRUM management said in a statement.

The Gaza Strip is under fire from Israel in response to a terrorist attack by the Hamas movement.

On Sunday, someone hung Palestinian flags in the windows of UMPRUM:

“From the discussions with the academic community, there is a division of opinion within the school, which can also be seen in the studios, on the windows on which the flags have been placed. The use of the front of the school building, which does not differentiate between the views of individuals and the entire institution, remains a problem. It is also questionable the great connection of graduates who are no longer part of the UMPRUM academic community, and who still speak on its behalf,” read the statement, which was mediated by a spokesperson the university Kamila Stehlíková.

The statement also says there will be a meeting with students next week. “Nevertheless, the school management welcomes the upcoming meeting with students, which will be held early next week. In particular, he hopes to clarify the internal procedures regarding the use of the school’s facade to express the views of the academic community.

The Minister of Education Mikuláš Bek (STAN) does not agree with the action where someone hung Palestinian flags without permission from the school management.

“I personally do not agree with the content or form of a political movement. But I am responsible for the administration of the university to deal with such things sensibly,” he wrote in an SMS message.

List News asked experts how they felt about the display of Palestinian flags. According to Miroslav Mareš, an expert on terrorism from Masaryk University Brno, this is definitely not an illegal act.

“No law in the Czech Republic has been broken. If the flag of an entity recognized by the Czech Republic as a special body of international law with which the Czech Republic has diplomatic relations, the hanging itself does not violate any law,” explained the expert.

Mareš says that this topic causes emotions in Czech society.

“At the moment I would actually see it as a form of protest against official government policy. It is a special opinion, although it is controversial in Czech society, because it is clear that the official policy of the government is more on the side of Israel and that a large part of the public is also on the side of Israel in the country. the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The signatory of Convention 77, former member of parliament and senator Daniel Kroupa, commented on the situation. In the past, he also participated in the preparation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, as a member of the government commission on the Constitution of the Czech Republic, and is a co-author of the University Act and several other laws. .

“I welcome it when students are politically active, but not directly on campus. As for the Palestinian flags, right now it is a real support for Palestinian terrorism,” he said in his comment.

List The News found out from other universities what their rules are for displaying flags.

“Charles University only hangs flags related to the mission and activities of the CU, as well as important dates related to the university and events organized by the CU, on its central building, Karolina, on the Fruit Market. It is, for example, the flag of the Czech Republic or the EU, black mourning flags and the like. In general, the university follows the basic rules for displaying flags on the territory of the Czech Republic,” Václav Hájek, a spokesman for Charles University, said in a statement.

He also said that the flags are always flown at Karolina with the knowledge and permission of the university management. In the case of buildings other than Karolina, the hanging of flags is at the discretion of the faculties, according to the spokesperson.

The Technical University of Liberec also contributes to its position. According to his spokesman, Radek Pirkl, there are no rules for hanging flags on buildings, other than the designated pole on campus, but customs.

“Last year or the year before, for example, the students of the Faculty of Arts and Architecture put up several rainbow flags on the building to show their support for the LGBT+ community. They announced their intention to the dean at the time, who then informed the school management led by the rector about the intention. Maybe this is how the procedure for hanging other flags on buildings should look,” Pirkl explained a specific example.