Providence City Council to Raise Palestinian Flag Over City Hall – Backlash Building
Outrage is building: “Providence, RI has been conquered.”
Astonishingly, the Providence, Rhode Island, City Council will be raising a Palestinian flag over City Hall on Friday, May 16, and they have invited the public to attend.
The invitation, posted on X, reads: “You’re invited to a Palestinian flag raising at City Hall this Friday, May 16! Elected officials and community members will deliver remarks on the steps out front at 12 pm. Join us!”
You’re invited to a Palestinian flag raising at City Hall this Friday, May 16! Elected officials and community members will deliver remarks on the steps out front at 12 pm. Join us! pic.twitter.com/SeggPQvS1b
— Providence City Council (@pvdcitycouncil) May 14, 2025
The Newport Buzz reported:
The announcement comes as the Palestinian flag has already been placed inside the City Council Chamber — positioned prominently next to the City Council dais.
Mayor Brett Smiley has given the green light for the flag to fly over City Hall, making Providence one of the first U.S. cities to publicly raise the Palestinian flag during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
The invitation triggered outrage from community members, local leaders, and advocacy groups who viewed the event as offensive and deeply divisive—especially given the ongoing hostilities in the Middle East.
Frankly, I was surprised—but encouraged—by the intensity of the public backlash. Providence may be a deep-blue city in a deep-blue state, but even for them, this went too far.
Local media outlet, GoLocalProv, reported that the “Palestinian flag is just about everywhere in Providence City Hall these days.”
On Wednesday, GoLocal received an email from the City Council’s new communications director, Marc Boyd, which read:
Council President Miller received a request from the community to raise the Palestinian flag tomorrow, [SIC] Thursday, May 15. As we do for many countries, cultures, and celebrations throughout the year, the flag will be up for the day of the event. It will be taken down in the evening, and used for a flag raising from City Hall, approved by Mayor Smiley and the Dept. of Public Property, at 12 pm on Friday, May 16. All are welcome to attend.
GoLocal learned that a nearly identical email was sent to City Council members at the same time—the only difference being the signature. The version sent to City Council members was signed by Chief of Staff June Rose, who has been arrested twice during protests, most recently at Trump Tower in March.
Just in case you wanted to learn something about Rose, here he is:
Enough is enough: June Rose the Chief of staff for the Providence city council, should be fired. Protesting at R.I. hospital for an illegal who assaulted a police officer. pic.twitter.com/BRcImxG5qH
— John DePetro Show (@JohnDePetroshow) April 26, 2025
GoLocal reached out to Mayor Smiley for a comment. He responded by email, “At the request of the City Council and two constituents, the City is flying the Palestinian flag.”
Two constituents. It’s remarkable that the City Council is willing to offend 190,790 constituents to appease two.
Smiley’s spokesman, Josh Estrella, replied, “The Mayor’s office was informed that City Council will be hosting a flag raising ceremony outside of City Hall in a public space on Friday. We have Palestinian American residents of Providence and are happy to celebrate their culture, as we do with many other communities. We hope that we can use opportunities like this to help foster thoughtful dialogue and unity, and that it is not used for divisiveness.”
Did Estrella truly expect this event to foster thoughtful dialogue and unity? I doubt it. Either way, the reaction to the invitation was overwhelmingly negative. Here are just a few of the responses:
So you’re having a flag raising event, but not with an American flag.
Not with a Rhode Island flag.
It’s with a Palestinian flag.
The same flag that Hamas waves.If only you guys cared about America, Americans, and especially your constituents as much as you care about some…
— Leftism (@LeftismForU) May 14, 2025
Did someone take your account over ? Is this a spoof account ? Cuz this can’t be real. Or is the City of Providence Rhode Island and its city council supporting a designated terror organization?
— GcatInRI (@GcatInRI) May 14, 2025
This is really disgusting. I’m sure it also violates some statute.
The only time another flag should be put up there is if you’re conquered.— Philthyvt (@Philthyvt) May 14, 2025
— Tall Dark & Grüesöme (@TallDarkGru) May 14, 2025
Absolutely disgusting. I hope somebody rips that flag down and puts it where it belongs, the gutter. Supporting terrorism is pure evil.
— Leave it better than you found it (@AuburysNavy) May 14, 2025
Will @SenWhitehouse @SenJackReed @Rep_Magaziner @RepGabeAmo condemn this terrorist supporting behavior by Rhode Island Democrats?
— Meara (@MillennialOther) May 14, 2025
The city council of Providence, Rhode Island, is hosting a flag raising ceremony at the City Hall.
What flag, you ask? A Palestinian flag…
Providence, RI has been conquered. pic.twitter.com/pSXC6RuK1v
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 14, 2025
Please click here to see the rest.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn or X.
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Comments
Providence’s native son, HP Lovecraft, is spinning his grave.
But their RINO dynasty — the Chafees — are dancing the polka with the devil in hell.
(Actually, the younger one is busy turning Wyoming into hell,)
Raymond L.S. Patriarca is spinning in his grave. I don’t think his Providence would have allowed the current political circus to exist.
I don’t know. Lovecraft was an antisemite. Maybe he would have liked Hamas.
Hmm. So Stephen King copied that from Lovecraft as well?
The vile, stupid and evil Dhimmi-crats are so witless and ensconced in their ivory tower, coastal bubbles, that raising the flag of a foreign regime — a genocidal, corrupt, belligerent and Islamofascist/terrorist regime, at that — over a U.S. municipal building, appears to them to be a perfectly normal and laudable act.
This stunt is part and parcel of the incremental agitation, subversion and bullying that Muslim supremacists/Islamofascists perpetually engage in, in Europe and increasingly, in the U.S., as well.
Instituting sharia courts; having school kids recite the Islamic profession of faith, as a classroom “exercise;” having street “patrols” to enforce sharia diktats, etc. These pukes are always pushing the envelope, to see what they can get away with and to obnoxiously impose their dominance and beliefs upon non-Muslims. And, of course, the utterly feckless, witless and gullible Dhimmi-crats are always happy to enable these antics and to kowtow to the idiots who engage in them.
Why don’t they open their homes to 2 million gaza refugees ??
Ssh. Or they’ll open YOUR homes (if you live in RI) to 2 million Gaza refugees.
FTS. Abso-f***ing-lutely NOT.
I made the mistake of doing some searches on “June Rose.” I kind of regret it now: the guy is nothing less than a moon barking, bat-s*** crazy, sexually-confused freak. In other words, a perfect fit for the Providence RI political establishment.
ha! your ‘personal search bubble’ will never be the same again
Naw, he has Lysol and a power washer.
Up it to Clorox…
(Never put chlorine in a power washer. )
Just rename the city New Palestine….
There is no “Palestinian” flag. There is no Palestine.
This flag they are flying is nothing but a Jordanian flag with a on tiny modification – which does make sense since Jordan is the state for so-called palestinians.
Say rather the 1928 to present flag of Jordan is the 1917-1920 Arab Revolt flag with slightly different dimensions, the middle green bar switching with the white bar at the bottom, and a 7 point star in the red triangle on the left er pole side of the flag.
In 1958 the Jordanian flag sans star was adopted as the Arab Federation flag.
In 1964 the Arab Federation flag was adopted as the ‘Palestinian’ flag, albeit red and green shading differences, and a flatter triangle.
So basically the so called Palestine flag is the Arab Federation flag which was the Jordanian flag which is the Arab revolt flag.
In other words there is no Palestine flag, simply a continuing Arab revolt and refusal to tolerate non-Arabs controlling land deemed Arab regardless of the historical reality.
Now. Let’s see how many patriots show up to tear it down. I fully acknowledge it would take a group of at least 50 to have enough of a crowd to overwhelm security. But it’s about time things like this start getting done. If I were 20 years younger, I would join that group. I’m too crippled up to do much of anything now, but I would support them.
Agreed. The mind is willing but the body is no longer able
That would doubtless be a hate crime – only the American flag and a limited number of others can be violated.
It’s probably not as protected as an LGTP flag, but I could be mistaken.
So what if it IS a hate crime?
Likewise, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (and aged).
.
” I’m too crippled up to do much of anything now, but I would support them.”
In overwatch position. About 200 yards away. In a window. From the opposite side of the room.
I’m not that good a shot.
Send in Betar.
I am livid. I said in another mail that Jews may have only 15 years left in America before they’ll have to leave if they know what’s good for them. This is an example why.
I’m increasingly seeing that too, especially for my children. What opportunity is there for them here? Just to be the scapegoat for everyone and all their problems. To be a punching bag in college for their witless peers and professors. To be passed over for jobs or excluded from social groups. Some of this is okay, after all we experience some of this. that’s just called living. Being alive mean someone is going to hate you. But it’s increasingly becoming a lot of this to the point where its being canonized as part of the system. I don’t care to be everyone’s villian, even though I do have a good evil laugh.
Anyone have any roman candles?
Will they fly the ISIS flag next? How about the Communist China flag?
Just go all the way and fly the Nazi and USSR flags.
You have got to be fucking kidding me. I’m at a loss for words here. What a goddamned disgrace. RIP Providence. Your elected officials have abandoned you. They are now openly pro terrorist. What the hell is going on?
Neither ignorance nor stupidity has a concept of margins.
Both merely bounce around in constant chaos, never acheiving order.
Entropy always wins.
Someone should round up four Jews in Providence (I lived there a few blocks from a synagogue) and have them request that city hall fly Israel’s flag. What is the chance it would be flown? Slim to none, probably.
What would be the point?
Four Jews beats a pair of douches
To show that only one side can be “offended.”
I lived in Providence a few years while at Brown. Always loved that city, but it’s sad to see how far its government has fallen.
Tune in to 6PM news on Friday for videos of a bloodbath.
Sadly, I’ve heard nothing and it’s nearly 7pm.
There should be law that only national and state flags can be flown from public owned properties.
You are free to fly your freak flag on your own private property, even if it upsets the next door neighbor.
Congress can’t make such a law, because it can’t dictate to the states and their subdivisions what opinions they must express. They have the same freedom of speech that all of us have.
States can make such a law for themselves and their subdivisions such as counties and cities. But they can’t if the flagpole is designated not for the city’s own expression but for that of members of the public, i.e. if there is a procedure by which anyone can ask for a flag to be flown, and the city doesn’t endorse any of them. That’s the situation in Boston. It used to be the situation in North Andover MA as well, but the city changed its policy to make the flagpole no longer a public forum but reserved only for the city’s own expression. Therefore if MA were to make a law such as you propose, it would cover North Andover but not Boston.
As a not-so-aside aside, remember the very interesting story about restricting the display of American flags in Amherst MA, particularly by one UMASS Professor Traschen?
“On September 10, 2001, a debate about the display of American flags in Amherst, Massachusetts, took place at a town meeting. The debate was particularly notable due to the comments made by Jennie Traschen, a professor of physics at the University of Massachusetts, who called the American flag “a symbol of terrorism and death and fear and destruction and oppression.” Her statement was seen as controversial and sparked significant discussion in the community.
The debate occurred just one day before the September 11 attacks, which dramatically changed the national and local context around the flag’s symbolism. The incident highlighted the tensions between free speech and community values, especially in a town known for its liberal political leanings.
Since then, Amherst has continued to grapple with flag-related controversies, including decisions about when and where to fly commemorative flags and the balance between honoring veterans and accommodating diverse viewpoints.
In more recent years, Amherst has worked to formalize policies around flag displays to avoid bias in decisions and potential litigation, aiming to clarify that the flagpoles on the Town Common are for government speech rather than free expression by the public.”
https://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/14/rec.flag.dispute/index.html
https://www.masslive.com/news/2015/09/amherst_to_fly_commemorative_f.html
Arizona just passed that one.
This is my home state, where I grew up. I’m not surprised unfortunately, RI has been on a downward slide for the past 15 years. There were always very few Jews in the state mainly in Pawtucket and Providence and with very little influence. I was always the first Jewish person anyone ever met growing up, and I’m guessing its not that different. America is increasingly telling us they don’t want us here, they prefer our enemies. The people who hate women, gays and religious freedom. That’s who America is choosing to champion and make their little mascot. We’ll see if this country regrets it in the end.
I had plenty of Jewish friends and neighbors growing up in Cranston. We were in the minority but had enough families for a few synagogues.
America on the whole may be telling you (collectively) such a thing, but frankly, your collective financial, influence, and vote support for the Democrat voices issuing such utterances is significantly responsible for that.
The voters in RI are so outraged they just might vote for a different Democrat.
This is inappropriate use of public property and taxpayer resources. In order to make it non-discriminatory policy without bias, it would be necessary to give equal flag display time to every national (or territorial?) flag in the world.
It’s not inappropriate for a city to express its opinions by flying various flags of its choice. Many cities flew an Israeli flag after the Simhat Torah massacre, and many also do so on Israel’s independence day and other occasions. And of course the same is true for many other flags, both of other countries and of organizations.
There is no need for a “non-discriminatory policy without bias”. Governments are entitled to have their own opinions and to express them. The flagpole is not a public forum unless the city decides to treat it as one. If it does, then it must indeed adopt a viewpoint-neutral policy on which applications from the public it accepts, with objective criteria.
Of course it’s inappropriate for anyone to have such an antisemitic opinion as Providence is planning to express, but that’s a different topic. We’re discussing here whether a city, having decided on its opinion, is entitled to express it publicly, and the answer is yes.
While I understand that a local government also has “freedom of speech”, I find the concept intellectually absurd because there iIS no singular organism know as City which can express itself.
Any expressions are strictly from individuals within the organization of that government; there is no collective consciousness which can be said to have an opinion.
And people being what they are, the prevailing opinions will be those expressed by the most dominant and domineering of the individuals in government, with no regards to what may be considered a majority of opinions of actual citizens, which should more properly be expressed through voting or polling.
As I said; it is intellectually absurd to posit that a government has “rights” that are appropriately reserved to the individual.
Yes, there is. A city is a corporation, and corporations can have opinions, which are determined by their boards.
That’s nonsense. A corporation’s views are determined by its board. In the case of a city, the city council.
All governments are corporate entities. The United States is a corporate entity, and it certainly has opinions and policies, which it proclaims loudly to the world! You can’t claim the USA has no policies! The USA’s policies are determined by the elected president. And the USA has the constitutional right to express its opinions, and is not required to give equal access to other opinions. When the Voice of America was functioning as designed, it expressed the USA’s opinions and did not give a forum to those with opposed opinions. And that’s how it’s supposed to be. Only in a public forum does the government have to treat all viewpoints as equally valid.
As expected Smiley is a a Jew and for the cherry on top or maybe bottom gay.
Not a Jew, but he thinks he is one. And he does support Israel, and has had the Israeli flag flown, including after the massacre in 2023. But apparently he thinks he can dance at both weddings, and he really can’t.
(Yiddish proverb: “With one backside one can’t dance at two weddings”. מיט איין אחור קען מען נישט טאנצן אויף צוויי חתונות)
The city has one of the highest rates of poverty in the nation with 29.1% of the population and 23.9% of families living below the poverty line. Of residents in poverty, the largest concentrations are found in the city’s Olneyville, and Upper and Lower South Providence areas.[102][
African Americans constitute 16.1%[80] of the city’s population, with their greatest concentrations found in Mount Hope and the Upper and Lower South Providence neighborhoods.[94][95] Providence has small Liberian and Haitian communities in the city. Liberians compose 0.4% of the population;[87] the city is home to one of the largest Liberian immigrant populations in the country
lets hope some lgbtq- runs up and puts THEIR flag up next to the plo one
who gets thrown off the roof first!!!?????
states that had confederate flags flying atop the state capitals
statues of american war heros and on and on it went
columbus day destroyed by blm racist communist radicals etc etc
but this is blmplo flag is accepted!!??!!?!?
Seems tone deaf and inappropriate for any political subdivision to fly the flag of another Nation or political entity on their flagpole. If it was part of a comprehensive display like a ‘flags of the world’ then ok.
I don’t wanna hear any more whining about micro aggression or trigger warnings or other typical lefty totalitarian arguments for limiting individual liberties b/c someone might be/is ‘offended’ or would suffer ’emotional harm’ from any other flag, t-shirt, emblem, logo, cartoon, meme speech, play, movie, book or anything else. If they don’t sound off in loudly and publicly denouncing this they can shove their hypocrisy up their behinds forevermore.
It’s not inappropriate. It’s an extremely common way for a government entity to display solidarity with some foreign country or entity, either to mark a visit by a head of state, or to mark a country’s national day or other holiday, or because something happened there, e.g. an earthquake or a massacre. Cities are allowed to have opinions and to express them. That’s been how the USA has always operated, and I see no reason it should change. You give no reason for your objection, other than that you don’t like it. Well, most people do like it, which is why it’s been happening since forever.
Next you’ll be condemning “twin city” arrangements that cities commonly make with other cities in other countries.
It is a good working assumption that any political subdivision of these formerly United States that displays the flag of a hostile foreign entity is in fact TWANLOC.
Subotai Bahadur