The mayor of a New Jersey city on Tuesday apologized for accidentally raising the Palestinian flag on the anniversary of the first Palestinian intifada.

Hoboken Mayor Ravinder S. Bhalla said that he had raised the Palestinian flag at City Hall following requests from city residents who are Palestinian.

Bhalla said he made the decision “in keeping with our city’s long-standing practice of recognizing the many cultures and communities that make Hoboken special.”

He noted that Hoboken’s City Hall has raised the flag of many different communities, including flags for Israel, Italy, Puerto Rico, breast cancer awareness and the LGBTQ community, and that raising the Palestinian flag was not a “political statement.”

“This flag raising is an acknowledgment of our Palestinian neighbors,” Bhalla said on X.

Bhalla went on to say that he had not been aware that he had raised the flag on the anniversary of the start of the First Intifada, a........

© The Times of Israel