The mayor of Hoboken faced backlash Tuesday over the decision to raise a Palestinian flag outside City Hall.<\/p>\n
Some city officials criticized Mayor Ravi Bhalla\u2019s move on social media and called for clearer protocols surrounding flag-raising events.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn official flag raising in front of City Hall is supposed to be welcoming and celebratory, with the hope that people see themselves and the community in them,\u201d Mayor-Elect Emily Jabbour wrote on Facebook<\/a>. \u201cHowever, today, we are seeing first-hand the repercussions of decisions made without a larger community conversation, and without any engagement with myself or my council colleagues.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cHoboken needs a clearer process for future flag raisings, one that respects and considers our entire community,\u201d Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher said in a statement<\/a>. <\/p>\n The flag has since been taken down, Fisher said.<\/p>\n Bhalla defended the decision to raise the flag in a statement<\/a> on social media, saying it was meant to celebrate diversity and acknowledge the Palestinian community in Hoboken \u2014 not to make a political statement. He noted the city has raised flags recognizing many other cultures and communities.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be clear that the act of raising this flag is not, in any way, shape or form, intended as a political statement by the City of Hoboken,\u201d Bhalla wrote<\/a>. \u201cHoboken is a municipality and takes no position on international political conflicts because it is not within the purview of municipal governance.\u201d<\/p>\n Bhalla, who was elected in November to serve in the state Assembly, said it was unintended that the event fell on the anniversary of the start of the First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising that lasted from 1987 to 1993. <\/p>\n \u201cI understand that this coincidence has caused concern for some members of our community. This was not our intention,\u201d Bhalla said. <\/p>\n Last November, Hoboken faced similar controversy<\/a> over another Palestinian flag-raising event, which Bhalla also defended. An Israeli flag flying outside City Hall last year was stolen three times<\/a> between October and December.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially in moments of pain or conflict around the world, it is vital that our residents feel seen and supported,\u201d Bhalla said. <\/p>\n \u201cAs Mayor of the entire City of Hoboken, my responsibility is to treat all community members equally, without exception. I am proud to lead a city where people of all backgrounds, including Palestinians and those who stand with them, can feel welcomed and valued,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mayor of Hoboken faced backlash Tuesday over the decision to raise a Palestinian flag outside City Hall.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,35053],"class_list":{"0":"post-67399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-headlines","10":"tag-new-york-news","11":"tag-union-city"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}