In a statement today, Palestinian ambassador Abdallah Attari condemned the treatment of three activists who were charged in writing after raising the flag of Palestine during a football game on Tuesday.

The three accused released the flag into the air near the stadium, during the game between Pafos FC and Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The ambassador was especially incensed by the fact that – as conveyed to him by the lawyer for the accused – the police described the flag to the lawyer as “a political symbol that causes offence”.

“I ask: who exactly does this flag offend?” wrote Attari, adding: “This is a flag that has been raised and upheld through the sacrifices and blood of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

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“If anything is a real insult, it is the characterisation of our flag as an ‘offensive political symbol’.”

“It’s not a matter of a national flag being offensive,” a police spokesperson told the Cyprus Mail.

The police cite “the prevailing atmosphere” as one reason why the raising of the flag was considered provocative and likely to cause a breach of the peace.

However, the accused are also being charged under Article 72(a) of The Prevention and Suppression of Violence in Sports Venues Law.

That law is very broadly drafted. Article 72 criminalises “racist or insulting slogans or symbols” at sports events – but Article 72(a) targets any display of a banner or placard featuring not just racist or insulting, but even “political or party-political” symbols.

This is such a broad designation it could potentially include any national flag, without having to claim that it ‘causes offence’.

It remains for the law to decide if raising a flag near a venue counts as raising it at the venue – and whether, given the clear intention behind Article 72, it should be used to criminalise national flags per se, especially since many flags of Israel were also being displayed by Maccabi fans.

“The flag of Palestine was, is, and will remain a sacred symbol for the Palestinian people,” said Attari, calling on the relevant authorities to investigate whether the flag had been slandered.

He also called on Fifa to take a stand against the violence in Gaza by banning Israeli teams from all its football competitions.