A police officer in Paterson, New Jersey, says he wears a Palestinian flag patch on his uniform to pay homage to his ethnic roots and the city’s large Arab population.
In a posted video, Officer Adeeb Iqnies speaks to an interviewer in Arabic and says “of course we represent our origins” as he gestures to the Palestinian patch just below the large police insignia on his ballistic vest.
“My family is Palestinian, I’m Palestinian,” Officer Iqnies says in the video. “I love my country, Palestine.”
The officer said he was born in the U.S. and has been on the force for the past three years.
The origin of the undated video wasn’t immediately available. The Shirion Collective, a self-proclaimed pro-Israel terrorism “surveillance” group, picked up the video over the weekend. It has been shared by several other pro-Israel news sites and social media accounts.
In the video, which does not appear to have been recorded recently, Officer Iqnies says he joined Paterson’s police department because the city has a large Arab community. He says about 15 other Arab police officers in the department are of Palestinian or Jordanian descent.
He says his fellow Arabs are interested in working in government positions so they can “have a voice in the United States.”
“If we want to make a name for ourselves [in this country] … we have to serve it,” the officer says in the video.
The Washington Times has reached out to the Paterson police chief and the police union for comment.
Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh, a Democrat, told The Washington Times in a statement: “The department policy allows for officers to wear flags on their uniforms for special events with the approval from the Police Chief’s office.”
He cited an example saying some of Paterson’s Dominican police officers wear the Dominican flag during the city’s Dominican Day Parade.
“Since 2011, we raise the Palestinian flag every year in Paterson,” Mr. Sayegh, a Catholic of Syrian and Lebanese descent, told The Times. “Paterson does not have space for xenophobia or Islamophobia. We embrace and celebrate our diversity.”
The city located in northern New Jersey has long embraced its large Muslim community.
Paterson is estimated to have the second-highest concentration of Muslims among American cities, with around 25,000 to 30,000 Muslim residents in a city of about 160,000. The highest is in Dearborn, Michigan.
Public schools serve halal food to students and are closed on Muslim religious holidays. Mosques in the city broadcast the Adhan, or the Islamic call to prayer, on loudspeakers.
In 2022, Paterson leaders renamed a five-block strip of the city’s Main Street to Palestinian Way. Some businesses installed signage in Arabic on their storefronts.
Last summer, officials raised a Palestinian flag over city hall to celebrate Palestine week.
“We come together in peace and live in peace, united as Palestinians,” Mr. Sayegh said at the time. “Let the world know that Palestinians are peace-loving people, and the section of Paterson where Palestinians live is the safest and strongest because of them.”
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.