On Friday, January 5, I was interviewed on PBS about the West Orange flag-raising issue. For those who are not aware, a scheduled Palestinian flag-raising in West Orange was canceled by Mayor Susan McCartney due to concerns of possible hate speech that would be uttered at the event based on the contents of the promotional flier that said, “Palestinian joy is resistance.” Frankly, I was a little annoyed (but not surprised) that they interviewed half a dozen pro-Palestinian flag supporters, but only one person—me—to give a counter-argument. I was even more annoyed (but not surprised) that they cut the main piece of what I said, which was this:

I did oppose the flag-raising. And I want to explain why.

I don’t have a problem—I don’t think most people would have a problem—with a Palestinian raising a flag in support of his or her national identity, to celebrate culture and pride. I think that’s great. You should be proud of who you are.

But that’s not what happened here, in West Orange.

What happened in West Orange was very different. A small group of political activists tried to make a blatantly pro-terrorism and anti-peace statement. And they lied, and they deflected, and they misled, about their intent.

But their intent was very clear—in their own words, they said, they wrote in their fliers and posters that this was intended to celebrate, quote, “joy is resistance.”

Resistance is coded language here. It means armed struggle. And I think that any decent person, any American, any person who believes in democracy and freedom and sanity in our civic discourse, would say, “Hang on, if after October 7th when Hamas broke the cease-fire and came over the border and killed, injured, tortured, raped and kidnapped thousands of innocent people, if after all that happened in the name of ‘resistance’ you’re using that term, then at the very least we get to ask you: “Well, what kind of resistance, exactly, are you referring to here?”

And if you’re lying about your motives, or deflecting, or double-speaking, and ignoring the real pain and hurt that you’re inflicting on people who live there and here, in New Jersey, with your hate-speech, then, really, you’re not standing up for Palestinian identity, you’re just a rape-apologist and a massacre-denier. You’re not standing for Palestinian independence; you’re a bigot and a Jew-hater.

And I think that free speech means that you get the right to wave your flag, in the name of your hate-speech and cruelty, but decent people who don’t support a shabby, twisted and warped sense of “resistance” get the right to say that this is wrong.

And that’s what happened here.

I met with colleagues from around the country last week to discuss the rise of Jew-hate in our campuses and communities, to share strategies on how to respond to the rise of hate, and to share best practices on how to keep our communities safe and connected. With this in mind, I’m particularly proud that the New Jersey nonprofit security grant process awards were just announced, and over a dozen Greater MetroWest synagogues and agencies received grants for security personnel and/or target-hardening. This was an extremely competitive and heavily subscribed grant, more than ever in the past. Our Federation’s Community Security Initiative was either directly involved with each grant application process or assisted by facilitating relationships with county risk-mitigation planners. So I’m really grateful to see Federation at work, boosting our safety in our schools, buildings and synagogues.

Dov Ben-Shimon was born in England and moved to Israel at the age of 18. He served as an Air Force rescue medic and Infantry combat medic in the Israel Defense Forces, and as Charge D’Affaires in the Israeli Embassy in Angola. After working in the Los Angeles Jewish community, he served as the executive director for Strategic Partnerships of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, an international Jewish rescue and relief organization.

Ben-Shimon holds a BA and MA in international relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He currently serves as the chief executive officer of Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, the largest Jewish philanthropy and community organization in New Jersey, which raises and distributes tens of millions of dollars each year to care for those in need, build community, and save the world, one person at a time.