the strain of the Middle East conflict is being felt thousands of miles from the war including right here in New Jersey where many communities are starkly divided over the ongoing Bloodshed in West Orange fuel was added to the fire after the mayor scrapped a Palestinian flag raising event scheduled for today saying in a statement the event got cancelled to prioritize the town's safety but a senior correspondent Joanna Gagis reports critics are questioning whether that's the truth we had a great opportunity here with the mayor to work with her and to have her really sponsor and Champion for people who have been silenced and really create an environment where all people can be heard and really give people a glimpse into Palestinian culture in a safe peaceful celebratory way members of the group West Orange for Humanity were deeply disappointed to learn last week that a Palestinian flag raising ceremony scheduled by the township for today was later cancelled by West Orange mayor Susan McCartney this would have been the first um official act on the part of the local government to ackowledge the humanity of the Palestinian people that live here and call West Orange home and are suffering and are hurting as a result of what's going on halfway around the world city council president Bill Rutherford says the municipality has rightly supported its Jewish Community with an Israeli flag raising ceremony among other things and given the heightened tension Rutherford feels in the township right now he opposed the mayor's decision to cancel the Palestinian flag raising to cancel that or postpone that just I thought sent the wrong signal to them in particular it does not acknowledge their uh importance to the community their participation in the community and the fact that they should enjoy the same rights and privileges as everyone else the mayor issued a statement regarding her decision saying while the decision brings deep disappointment it is driven by a commitment to prioritize the safety of the broader Community but organizers of the event are crying foul because the mayor first approved the event issued a permit reviewed their announcement and publicized it members of the Jewish Community pushed back on language that was used in the promotional flyer that said Palestinian Joy is resistance saying it was anti-semitic and hateful the flyer was then removed from the Township's electronic signage a small group of political activists tried to make a blatantly pro- terrorism and anti-peace statement and they lied and they deflected and they misled about their intent and their intent was very clear in their own words they wrote in their flyers in their posters and they said that this was intended to celebrate quote the joy of resistance and this is coded language here resistance means armed struggle ruler Ramadan is a Palestinian and a lifelong resident of West Orange who denounces that perspective we stand against anti-Semitism anti-muslim anti- Arabic Arab speech across the board um the language was not hateful in any sense uh but what sadly I believed happened is that you know people fell into the anti-muslim anti-arab Trope or the belief that um you know Palestinian existence or Palestinians resisting their mourning their pain their grief at what is happening to their Community somehow insinuates something against anybody TOA fry is a Jewish resident who supports raising the Palestinian flag I am Jewish um all of my grandparents were killed uh in the uh Holocaust uh and I was born in occupied Palestine uh after the war criticizing any government our own or any other for their actions is not anti-semitic the Palestinian community did still Gather in front of town hall today although there was no official flag raised their hopeful that mayor McCartney reconsiders her decision in West Orange I'm Joanna Gagis NJ Spotlight News NJ Spotlight News [Music]