Mayor holds event to mend fences with Fresno Palestinians after Israel flag controversy
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and an array of representatives of Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian organizations offered a show of solidarity as the mayor sought to make amends with Palestinians offended by his remarks during an Oct. 12 raising of the Israeli flag.
But a press conference Thursday afternoon also may have revealed a rift within the Palestinian community as city leaders cope with fallout from a war half a world away in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
“Across this country for the past 2 ½ months, we have experienced a lot of rallies, protest and a great deal of division, not just in America but across the world,” Dyer told reporters. “But that is not why we’re here today standing shoulder-to-shoulder.”
“I stand proudly with members of the Muslim, Jewish and Palestinian community who are leaders of their respective faiths in this great city,” Dyer said, reading a statement agreed upon by the mayor and those gathered behind him. “We stand unified and believe there is only one side in Fresno, and that is the side of peace, unity and nonviolence.”
“There is no room for hatred, there is no room for intolerance, there is no room for prejudice, and there is no room for the killing of innocent people,” he added. “Our vision is a Fresno where every Muslim, Jewish and Palestinian resident feels secure in their homes and free to enjoy all the city has to offer, without fear of violence, without fear of being derided, and without fear of being threatened.”
As the press conference concluded, Dyer exchanged hugs and handshakes with those who joined him for the event.
Fences to be mended
Five days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas against Israel – in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 240 people were taken hostage – Dyer presided over raising the flag of Israel at Eaton Plaza in a show of support for Israel. Following the attack, Israel declared war on Hamas and, except for a brief cease fire in recent weeks, has bombarded cities in Gaza.
The Associated Press reported Friday that Gaza health officials estimated more than 20,000 Palestinians, including thousands of women and children, have died in the Israeli offensive.
But Dyer set off a backlash at the flag-raising when he responded to people who shouted questions about why the Palestinian flag wasn’t being raised as well.
“We are not here today to alienate any part of our community. However, if people in this community or anywhere else support the terrorist activity that occurred on Saturday in Israel, then I would question their allegiance to the United States of America.”
In the weeks since, dozens of Palestinian residents and allies have protested along Blackstone Avenue in north Fresno and appeared at Fresno City Council meetings asking for the city to adopt a resolution calling for a cease fire in Gaza and demanding an apology from Dyer for what they perceived as a slap at the Palestinian community.
One of those flanking Dyer on Thursday was Rabbi Rick Winer of Fresno’s Temple Beth Israel, who said after the press conference that he too questioned why only the Israeli flag was raised on Oct. 12.
“As the Israeli flag was raised – I understand it was the mayor’s idea and it did not come from the Jewish community – there were people shouting, ‘Why are you not raising the Palestinian flag?’” Winer said. “It seemed to me reasonable that if the Israeli flag is being raised, then we should have a time, since we’re all for peaceful coexistence, when the flags of both communities can be raised together.”
“We really appreciate that the mayor learned a good experiential lesson from keeping the focus on local and figuring out how not to get too wrapped up into international political happenings,” Winer added.
Abdul Jawad, a Palestinian business owner in Fresno, also joined Dyer for the press conference. He also spoke of respect and coexistence between the two sides in the political conflict.
“Historically, Muslims and Jews have lived among each other and we don’t have a problem living among each other, whether it’s here in the United States or even back home,” said Jawad, clad in a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, or scarf. “For thousands of years we coexisted. … Muslims and Jews, I think we have nothing but respect and love for each other.”
“I think people back home can get along except for the politics,” he added. “The far right on both sides is what makes it so hard.”
Appreciating the passion of protest
While Winer declined to comment on the calls for the city to support a cease fire, Jawad said that “whoever is calling for a cease fire, we stand behind them. We want a cease fire.”
“We don’t want to see innocent people killed,” he added.
But he was cautiously critical of some of the inflammatory rhetoric that has surfaced in calls by some Fresno Palestinians at protests and at City Council meetings.
“There’s a lot of passion, a lot of people who have relatives in Gaza. they see their relatives who have been bombarded,” Jawad said. “There’s a lot of passion out there and people sometimes speak things in those situations.”
Winer concurred. “People are justifiably very upset about all the loss of life,” he said. “It’s incredibly upsetting, and I really feel for everyone going through such difficult times.”
“There are some upsetting things that are said on either side, but we’re really focused on how we can best keep a good, positive climate here in Fresno.”
Throughout a series of meetings among the various leaders with Dyer, Winer said, “there was nothing upsetting because our goals were very clearly the same. That’s gratifying.”
Dyer concluded the press conference with an off-script comment that was not part of the prepared statement: “If there is anything I’ve ever said or done to hurt any of you here (Jewish, Muslim or Palestinian), I apologize, and I mean that from the depths of my heart.” Dyer left the podium without taking questions from reporters.
Excluded from the process?
But the unity on display Thursday inside City Hall isn’t necessarily universal. Outside, Palestinian Freedom Project co-leaders Layla Darwish and Yasir Amireh criticized the mayor and some of those who joined him. The pair had a heated exchange with Jawad as he exited the building.
Amireh and Darwish led the effort behind a Dec. 8 event to raise the Palestinian flag at Eaton Plaza and insisting on a cease-fire resolution from the City Council and an apology from Dyer.
Amireh told The Fresno Bee that he felt Jawad’s participation in Thursday’s press conference was a “betrayal” of the Palestinian community in Fresno, and pointedly said Jawad was among “traitorous Palestinians” undermining efforts to press for a cease fire.
Darwish and Amireh lamented that despite their visibility at City Council meetings and other activities, they had not been invited to participate in the various meetings that led up to the press conference.
Darwish said she only learned of the event when she came to City Hall on Thursday to pick up the Palestinian flags raised over Eaton Plaza on Dec. 8.
“I didn’t know what was going on. I asked what’s happening, and they wouldn’t tell me,” she said. “When I went inside, some people wanted to invite me in, but there were some people saying, ‘No, she’s not invited,’ and others saying, ‘As long as she’s quiet.’”
Darwish said she was hurt and offended, as a Palestinian American, to be treated with that kind of disrespect “on American soil.”
Amireh was skeptical about Dyer’s sincerity. “The reason this happened today is because Dyer has found a group of traitor Palestinians to do this with,” he said. “We’ve been out in the front, We’ve been threatened, we’ve been treated badly. We’ve been looked at as really bad people. And we’re fighting for our cause.”
Amireh added that he has reached out to Jawad multiple times to ask about a public display of unity with Dyer, “and he kept us in the dark on purpose because he knows this is the wrong thing to do” and “supersedes the cause of stopping the genocide in Palestine.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2023 at 12:27 PM.
