NYC Tweet Includes Palestinian Flag, Then Israeli

NEW YORK
nyc tweet palestinian flag
The initial tweet, including the Palestinian flag.

New York City’s official Twitter account on Wednesday night tweeted a Palestinian flag, among others, but not an Israeli one, in a message about immigrants being counted for the Census. Following criticism from Israel supporters, on Thursday a similar message was tweeted along with an Israeli flag.

“No matter where you’re from, if you live here, you’re a New Yorker,” read the tweet from @nycgov, posted at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday night. “We all count in the census. #GetCountedNYC http://my2020census.gov.”

The tweet included images of 15 flags of nationalities represented among the New York City melting pot, including Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, South Korea – as well as the Palestinian flag.

The tweet was criticized by Israel supporters.

One commenter wrote, “Why is there no Israeli flag, yet a palestinian flag is included? Really??????????????” Another wrote, “NYC is one of the most Jewish cities in the world. But City Hall doesn’t include an Israeli flag in this tweet. We all know exactly what’s going on here.”

But opponents of Israel applauded.

“Thank you @nycgov for leaving out that raggedy Israeli flag, a butchers apron,” wrote one person. Another said, “Israel is not a real country. Free Palestine.”

Many dueling commenters posted images of their side’s respective flags.

City Councilman Kalman Yeger also criticized the tweet, writing, “Hey @nycgov, when you tweet this, you’re telling New Yorkers which backgrounds and nationalities are important to you — and, thus, which aren’t. Do ‘we all’ really count to you?”

nyc tweet palestinian flag
The follow-up tweet, including the Israeli flag.

At 9:59 a.m. Thursday, @nycgov tweeted a message similar to the first, stating, “We come from many places but we’re one city — and we need EVERYONE to get counted in the census. #GetCountedNYC http://my2020census.gov.” This tweet included flags of Ireland, Italy, Turkey, the British Union Jack – and Israel’s.

The follow-up tweet once again drew commenters from both sides, with one writing, “Nice save adding the israeli flag after the fact…disgusting,” and another saying, “Shame on you
@nycgov adding Israel [after] the fact.”

Yeger told Hamodia he believes that a city with immigrants from so many nations should not have picked some flags over others.

“Picking just a few out of the many nationalities represented in our city was dumb,” said the councilman. “I’m glad whoever did this now recognizes Israel. But they’re still leaving out dozens of nationalities. So, still dumb.”

City Hall did not immediately respond to Hamodia’s request for comment.

rborchardt@hamodia.com

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