- Settlers shout helplessly at the bird, who briefly became a symbol of Palestinian resistance
A video of a crow attacking an Israeli flag at the entrance to a settlement in the occupied West Bank has been widely shared in recent days.
In the video, settlers are heard shouting in Hebrew at the bird to leave the flag alone.
One man calls it an “anarchist”. When, towards the end of the video, the crow tears the flag from its pole, the man repeats: “I’m shocked.”
This scene has been widely commented on on social networks.
In Gaza, Palestinian activist Jihad Helles tweeted: “This crow is once again teaching us what to do”, referring to a story quoted in the Bible and the Quran in which a crow teaches Cain how to bury his brother Abel, whom he has just murdered.
Translation: “The raven was sent by God to Cain when he killed his brother Abel, to teach him how to bury his brother. Glory be to God, this crow headed for the Zionist flag which represents the oppressors. Then God sent a crow to scratch the ground to show him how to hide the misfortune of his brother… Therefore, We commanded the children of Israel that whoever kills a soul without a soul, it is as if he were killing everyone.”
Haaretz journalist Nir Hassoun, who reposted this video on his Twitter account, tweeted: “God is undoubtedly hinting at something, but we don’t know exactly what.”
One Palestinian user responded simply: “Even the crow refuses normalization,” in reference to the establishment of diplomatic relations between some Arab countries and Israel.
Others responded by publishing other videos of birds – and one cat – attacking the Israeli flag.