At Jersey City Palestinian flag raising, keynote speaker expresses immigrant solidarity

Jersey City officials and residents gathered for the fourth annual Palestinian flag raising on Friday, where the keynote speaker highlighted the solidarity between Palestinians under Israeli occupation and immigrants targeted by federal authorities.

By Dan Israel/Hudson County View

May 15 was chosen since it coincides with The Nakba, the Arabic word for “catastrophe” that refers to the mass displacement of Palestinians beginning during the 1948 war with Israel.

At the ceremony hosted by former Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh and the Palestinian American Community, Saleh gave brief welcoming remarks after reading “Ayatal Kursi”- one of the most powerful verses in the Quran.

“Today, as this Palestinian flag rises into the sky above our city, it rises not only as a symbol of a people, but as a test of our conscience,” he began.

“And I stand before you as someone who feels politically homeless in this moment in American life, not because I have abandoned my morals, but because too many institutions abandoned theirs long ago.”

According to Saleh, the ceremony was not only about grieving and remembering those lost to the violence, occupation, and displacement in Palestine, but about honoring the resilience of the diaspora both at home and abroad.

He said that, despite political indifference, censorship, and humiliation, Palestinians are surviving bombardment, exile, and apartheid while refusing to surrender their dignity.

“For the last two years, many of us have watched in disbelief as people who speak endlessly about democracy, free speech, and human rights suddenly fell silent when students were dragged from campuses, when rallies were criminalized, when careers were destroyed, when dreams of education were shattered, and when young people-  whose only offense was speaking against war and apartheid-  were treated as enemies of the state,” Saleh declared.

“We heard cries of ‘No Kings’ from people who said nothing while thousands were surveilled, intimidated, rounded up across universities and demonstrations, and made political prisoners in all but name.”

Saleh further stated that the Palestinian flag has transcended cloth to become a symbol of solidarity for freedom, safety, human rights, and more for Palestinians and beyond.

He also levied criticism of the double standard held towards “No Kings” protestors versus pro-Palestine protestors.

“And so today, let us tell the truth plainly: freedom of speech means nothing if it only protects speech that flatters power,” Saleh said.

“Freedom of religion means nothing if entire communities are demonized for mourning their dead. Freedom of the press means nothing if journalists are silenced, buried, or ignored when their reporting becomes inconvenient.”

While Saleh was proud to be from Jersey City, and an American, he said real patriotism is not blind obedience, but “loving your country enough to demand that it live up to its promise” and concluded that the people bend the moral arc of history as exemplified in the flag raising.

Afterwards, there was a solemn moment of silence followed by a short speech from Jersey City Mayor James Solomon, who expressed gratitude to local Palestinians for their various contributions to the city.

Community leaders and speakers delved into the plight of the Palestinian people amid the Israeli genocide in Gaza, decrying the situation of their people since long before the most recent war.

This included advocates like: Meera Jeffrey of CEASEFIRE NOW; Bader Risheg of American Muslims for Palestine; Muslim community leader Ahmed Shadeed; Haleima Twan of the Palestinian American Community Center; former Ward C Councilman Rich Boggiano; and congressional candidate (D-8) Mussab Ali; among others.

“When I’m here, I think about courage. I think about after October 7, how few people were willing to stand up and speak out against innocent lives that were being killed, the way that we were treated. I think about the fact that we came to these chambers here in City Hall and we demanded a resolution for a ceasefire, just like they were doing all across the country, and that lawmakers never seem to let us down,” Ali expressed.

“I think about the fact that, for many of you here who don’t go to other flag raisings …  there is no security. You don’t have to come in through the side door, you walk in through the front. And so I wonder about when will it be the day when we can stand for Palestine, when we can speak openly, and not be in a situation where we are relegated to the side door.”

According to Ali, he was happy to have the Palestinian flag raised at City Hall, to have Solomon call the war a genocide, and that the current council would pass a municipal ceasefire resolution if proposed.

Nonetheless, he still took issue with security measures for the event, and called out Palestinians being raped by dogs in Israeli captivity, among other deplorable acts.

The keynote speaker was Leqaa Kordia, a Muslim Palestinian woman and U.S. citizen who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over a year for overstaying her F-1 student.

Kordia, a leader in her community in Paterson, was taken by ICE on March 13th of last year in Newark after voluntarily meeting with immigration officials concerning her status.

After more than one year of detention in Texas, she was released on March 16th of this year after an immigration judge granted her release on $100,000 bond.

She was also previously arrested for her involvement during pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University, and though those charges were later dropped, Saleh noted she was the longest detained of those demonstrators.

“The Palestinian flag rises above the chamber not only as a flag, but as a witness to generations of Palestinians who refuse to disappear, a witness to betrayal, a witness to complicity and hypocrisy,” Kordia said.

“I stand before you as a Palestinian woman who has left the pain of occupation, imprisonment, and loss.”

Kordia has lost many family members in the genocide.

“I spent a whole year in prison demanding freedom and dignity and justice for my people,” she said.

“Even after my release, my body still carries the trauma, trauma that left me with epilepsy after suffering my first ever seizure in ICE jail … But my suffering is only one tiny story among millions of Palestinians whose names might never be heard in rooms like this.”

Despite the bleak situation, Kordia said that Palestinians persist because their country is more than land, but dignity, memory, and resistance.

Kordia said the struggle faced by Palestinians is intersectional with immigrants impacted by ICE and other oppressed groups worldwide.

“Let us not forget the thousands of women, men, and children who are caged in ICE jail, facing not only the brutal jails and the unjust deportation, but also death,” Kordia stated.

“Let us not forget those who are struggling around the world. And let us not just listen, but act in ways that will free us all.”

After Kordia was presented with a citation for her activism by the City, the ceremony proceeded to the balcony where the Palestinian flag was raised below the American flag as both national anthems were played back to back.

“Free Palestine,” Saleh finished.