Palestinian flags waved on a frigid Wednesday afternoon as a crowd gathered at the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps.
“Today was not supposed to happen,” Jude Husein said into a microphone. “But year after year through patience, persistence, positivity and being Palestinian, we come out every year to recognize the beautiful Palestinian community.”
Husein helped bring a city-sanctioned event marking the United Nations’ International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People to Philadelphia in 2021. Mayor Jim Kenney spoke that first year, and the commemoration has previously been held near City Hall.
But Wednesday’s event, which coincides with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, was moved to the Art Museum, a location change that made organizers unhappy. The Inquirer reported last week that the Kenney administration also decided not to send a representative to the event and prohibited the use of the city’s logo.
“The City of Philadelphia is betraying the trust of its Palestinian residents,” said Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a statement. “Bowing down to fringe elements who seek to deny the existence of Palestinians is the last thing that our city needs.”
During the first two years, the day was marked in front of the Municipal Services Building in an area that is currently unavailable due to construction, the Kenney administration said. Holiday markets are occupying other spaces around City Hall, officials said.
The city did set up a podium and sound system for Wednesday’s event, and Philadelphia police showed up to provide security. Those services came at no cost to organizers, a city spokesperson said, which is in line with how the mayor’s office handles flag-raisings and other international ceremonies. Kenney was not requested to speak or attend, according to his office.
“Although other city officials have spoken in the past, given the current conflict and climate in Gaza, we feel that prominent participation by the city will distract from the true meaning of this event, which is for Philadelphia’s Palestinian community to have an equal opportunity to celebrate their heritage,” a Kenney spokesperson said in a statement.
Husein read aloud a proclamation signed by Kenney marking the Palestinian Solidarity Day, and state Sen. Nikil Saval and state Rep. Danilo Burgos spoke to the crowd.
Saval was among a dozen state lawmakers who signed onto a letter last week urging Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation to support a ceasefire in the Middle East. On Wednesday, he said he is “deeply ashamed” of his alma mater, Columbia University, which earlier this month suspended two pro-Palestinian groups on campus.
“We are going through a very tragic time, a devastating time in Palestine and across the world,” Saval said. “And here, we have to affirm very simply that everyone has the right to speak freely and to be safe.”
Palestinian Americans and non-Palestinians attended the event, and there did not appear to be any protests or counter-demonstrations.
Rabbi Alissa Wise, co-founder of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, said she grew up believing that Jews were alone in the world and needed their own state, Israel, to be safe.
“In the over two decades now that I’ve been part of the Palestine solidarity movement, I’ve learned that the opposite is true,” Wise told the crowd. “Safety comes through being part of interdependent communities.”
