Why did the Palestinian flag scare the Interior Ministry?

Fayzullo Mukhtorov, who works in Russia, addressed Azon Global and stated that his relatives in Fergana were harassed for holding the Palestinian flag.
"The aggressor Israel seized Palestinian land, and Uzbek security forces took down the Palestinian flag," Fayzullo wrote.

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People also express their feelings, views, and positions through symbols. Someone wears the jersey of the football team they support, while someone hangs the flag of the country they want to use in their home. You will witness these manifestations especially abroad. In Uzbekistan, it was allowed to hang the flag of your country in homes in 2023 .

The use of flags of other countries in Uzbekistan is observed in various campaigns.
For example, in February this year, Huawei employees could be seen running in Tashkent, or on May 9, when representatives of the population carried various flags through the streets of the capital.

The Interior Ministry described these actions as legal. However, the Palestinian flag that Fayzullo Mukhtorov from Fergana sent to his home by mail was confiscated by the Interior Ministry.

We contacted Fayzullo Mukhtorov and learned the details of the incident.
"My 5-year-old son was given a military uniform. It had the Chinese flag on it. I didn't like it. Then I bought a small chevron with the Palestinian flag on it through the Wildberries online store. I planned to stick it on instead of the Chinese flag on my clothes. I saw that the website also had a large Palestinian flag. I was interested, so I ordered that too."

Fayzullo Mukhtorov says that when his order reached Fergana, an unexpected event occurred.

"At 10 am, my brother went to the Wildberries branch to pick up my package. They held the order there without delivering it. My brother called and said, 'Brother, they're not delivering your order. It's dangerous.' " I said, "Uzbekistan recognized Palestine as an independent state in 1992. There's nothing dangerous about the flag."

The Wildberries employee told us that we couldn't pick up the order and had to wait for the police to arrive. I told him to cancel the order and send it back. The employee refused.

"Within 10 minutes, the Anti-Terrorism Department of the Interior Ministry (I don't remember his name, he was a lieutenant) arrived and took my brother away."

Fayzullo Mukhtorov drew attention to some of the processes his brother went through when he went to receive the order.

"My brother said, 'I haven't even held the flag in my hands yet. They put the order in a package and tried to delay it by saying it couldn't be delivered.' The staff arrived within 5 minutes."

During those 5 minutes, I also spoke. "Brother, what are you doing? Uzbekistan was colonized for 70 years because of people like you. Don't do that. If it had a Chinese or Russian flag, you wouldn't say anything. Ours is a Muslim and independent state," I said.

The employee said, "You can check your order, but we can't send it back."

According to Fayzullo, the police officers who arrived at the Wildberries branch took his brother to court.
"My brother said that 5 people came in and started asking questions. They asked him what he did, were he affiliated with any groups, did he want to demonstrate? They searched his phones. They went into his Telegram and checked what he had uploaded. They put a little pressure on him."

"My father is a former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, now retired. They went and questioned me. Then they let me go. They said it's not over yet, they'll call me back. They didn't give me the flags, they even took away my chevron."

Fayzullo Mukhtorov doesn't want to leave this situation as it is. "I also called the Wildberries office, they got in touch.

"Why are your employees looking at what's inside the item? The person should close the order after saying they've received it. They're taking money out of my account, saying the order has been delivered before it's even been handed over to the owner," I said.

"Because my bank card was linked, I received messages on my phone saying, 'Please rate the product, the money has been withdrawn.' When I asked my brother if he had received it, he said, 'No, I haven't received it yet.' I want to sue Wildberries," says Fayzullo.

It is still unknown whether the flag and chevron purchased by Fayzullo will be returned.

We would like to remind you that Uzbekistan has expressed its position on the situation in the Gaza Strip.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed Uzbekistan's solidarity with the Palestinian people and its support for their right to establish their own independent state in accordance with adopted resolutions.

In December last year, at the initiative of President Mirziyoyev, in coordination with the Ministry of Health and the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Cairo, 100 Palestinian children and women victims, as well as their companions, were evacuated to Uzbekistan.

Assistant to the President of Uzbekistan Saida Mirziyoyeva announced that she met with Palestinian children receiving treatment in Uzbekistan and delivered greetings and gifts from the President.

"We wish peace and prosperity to the suffering Palestinian people," Saida Mirziyoyeva wrote on her official Telegram channel.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has once again drawn attention to the Gaza conflict, noting that the response of Western countries to the Palestinian tragedy is deeply concerning.

"Double standards are being observed in practice. Countries that widely promote democracy and human rights are turning a blind eye to these murders," he said.

Uzbekistan has also allocated $1.5 million to assist the population of the Gaza Strip.

A young immigrant who sent a gift to his child, relying on Uzbekistan's position of solidarity with Palestine, is now in doubt: Whose side is Uzbekistan on?!

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