Israel Considers Posting Pro-Palestinian Stickers an Incitement to Terrorism

Inside one protester’s victimization by the Israeli police for daring to speak out against a genocide

Numerous international organizations consider Israel’s onslaught and occupation of Gaza a genocide. More than 64,000 Palestinians have been murdered since October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and over half a million are currently starving as a result of Israel’s blockade of aid on Gaza. Organizations like the United Nations and Amnesty International as well as numerous genocide scholars have highlighted how Gazans have been tortured, dehumanized, and displaced. Residents of West Bank have been victim to racist attacks, home demolitions, and mass murder at the same time as the Gazan genocide. This is seen as just a part of daily life, with soldiers assaulting and humiliating any Palestinian who crosses their path.

And yet, as evidence of the immense harm brought against innocent people has mounted, so too has the number of people who seek to deny that it is happening at all. Israel and its allies, including the United States, continue to deny that it is committing a genocide. Online, countless people can be found going as far as to claim the US needs to keep sending aid to Israel.

This apathetic — and in some cases malicious — response to concerns about murdering thousands of families has prompted numerous people to speak their mind and protest, including in the heart of Israel. Numerous Israeli anti-Zionists have spoken out in favor of Palestine, often to complete isolation from loved ones who are ardent about their support for Israel.

But as Israel has continued to intensify their assault, so have their attacks on protesters advocating for the lives of Palestinians. Tom, whose last name was redacted for personal safety, is one such activist. He’s an anarchist anti-Zionist who grew up in the occupied West Bank and as an adult wanted to make a difference by rallying support against Israel. 

In January 2025, he posted several pro-Palestine and anti-Zionist posters and stickers across his settlement in the West Bank, which led to his arrest days later. The following is an exclusive in-text interview with him about his story and the future of anti-Zionist activism in Israel. (His responses have been lightly edited for punctuation, capitalization, and clarity; edits in the latter class are in brackets.)

Additionally, readers with the means are encouraged to donate to Palestinians in their efforts to escape from genocide. One such Palestinian, Soad, is a nurse and the mother of her 3-year-old son Omar. They have been through numerous hardships, including starvation, repeatedly losing their homes, and getting shot. Free Radical has verified the authenticity of this campaign, as have many others. Her GoFundMe can be found here, and anyone interested in helping Soad fundraise may reach out to Free Radical for contact information.

Would you be able to describe what happened when you got arrested? What was it like, and was it squarely for the putting up of posters?

It was still morning. It was a normal day; I was working at a café in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. My boss told me to go outside to arrange the chairs and pull them closer to the tables outside the café. When I started, an IOF soldier sat down near me to eat her breakfast and I internally cursed her because I was really mad that day due to the IOF’s abduction of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya from the Gaza Strip, where they took him to one of their torture camps.

Just a minute later, two men showed up, dressed like normal citizens. They came up behind me, asked me if I'm Tom, and I said yes. They showed me their police ID cards and asked me to show them my Israeli ID. I went inside to get my backpack and opened it, took out my ID and gave it to them. One of them went to talk to my boss quietly, and the other told me to go get my stuff. My boss gave me a cold, detached look before I left. 

They took me to their normal car, it wasn't a police car. One of them took out his assault rifle so he could sit down in the car. They tried to talk to me at the start but I was completely shocked and scared, I stayed silent. They took me to the police station in a West Bank settlement and there they just watched over me for hours upon hours until they decided to officially arrest me. They told me I'm a terrible liar and that I should just give up on lying.

I gave them my phone's password without knowing they needed a search warrant for it. I thought my life was over, so why not just cooperate with them? It was useless to deny or resist. They took my fingerprints, my photo, my backpack and everything in it; they stole my money and ordered me to strip naked for their search. While I was naked, one of the cops laughed at me because I believed there's a genocide in Gaza. They destroyed my shoes and my pants and then they handed me over to the Israeli prison services. They took me to their van, handcuffed and shackled.

At the start, it was only about the stickers.

That's horrible, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Did you get your belongings back? And how long did they detain you?

I got some of it back. I had 400 shekels in my backpack; they gave me only 60 in coins. They took my pink hoodie, my backpack itself, the red marker [used for writing the stickers] and everything in it. I was detained for 2 weeks until they released me to house arrest.

And all of this was just over putting up some stickers?

I said some extreme stuff on the stickers, I won't lie. It was way beyond just pro-Palestine stuff. I said "IDF = Terrorists,” "Kill Cops,” "Every IDF soldier is complicit in the genocide in Gaza,” "America is the head of terrorism in the world.”

You’re definitely not wrong in saying that. It's illegal to criticize Israel's occupation there, then?

It's illegal to say anything critical of Israel. Yes. Anything that goes against the Israeli propaganda machine is considered incitement to violence and terrorism in their minds.

Many similarities to the current state of the US, unfortunately. You mentioned this culminated in you getting placed on house arrest. How long have you been on it, and what are you restricted from doing?

I've been in house arrest for 8 months now. When my next court hearing will be, I will be in house arrest for 9/10 months.

I'm restricted from using the internet — but I[‘ve] already violated this rule because here I am talking to you — and I can't go outside [apart from certain windows]. I have a window to go outside on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday. And on Wednesday, I have to visit my psychologist once every 2 weeks.

What do you think will happen after the court date?

My lawyer said he hopes the case will be closed by November. My next court hearing is in November. If they release me from house arrest, they will most likely take me to live in a hostel for disabled people who need treatment. I will get psychological treatment for my autism and my punishment would be community service for 9–10 months — working at a hospital, for example, without getting paid.

If that doesn't happen, I will just be in house arrest some more.

Do you know then if any other anti-Zionist has faced similar treatment in Israel? Is this common for people who protest the state?

My close friend — she is a queer anarchist. She was arrested by the Shin Bet for illegal organizing with Palestinian anarchists. You know the organization Fauda? Fauda is an organization of Palestinian anarchists in the West Bank. They do direct action against the IOF when they invade Palestinian villages

Oh hell yes! Just seeing this is so fucking cool. Have you worked with them?

I was supposed to join them, but the police arrested me for stickers, not for organizing with them. The anarchist anti-Zionist community here is very, very small, but there is a community. But everyone is scared as hell to do anything drastic.

Are they worried about treatment similar to what happened to you?

Yeah, because they're used to being arrested and released a few hours later. Not have an entire case built.

Would you say that after October 2023, police repression of anti-Zionists has increased?

They have definitely taken cases of incitement more severely since October 2023. Cases of incitement against Israel have also increased since the genocide began. It was mainly Palestinians getting arrested.

Considering this, what is your view on what activists in Israel should do going forward? What should people abroad do to support Palestinians and anti-Zionists getting persecuted by Israel?

I would hope more people would disrupt, protest and even sabotage. But that's just my dream. In reality, the anti-Zionist community in Israel is very, very small and ineffective. I'm happy there's these freedom ships sailing to Gaza.

Do you have any advice for people who want to get involved in anti-Zionist work but don't know where to start?

Start small, and slow. What I did was different because it was inside the borders of the Zionist entity, but where there is a big pro-Palestine community it will be different. Eventually, if a person feels comfortable, they can go to higher and higher forms of direct action.

Is there anything else you want to say?

No, not really… Just never stop resisting.

Thank you to Ryan Fae (@ryan.staticnoi.se) for editing this article.

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