MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

How Selma Khayal, 19, led North Andover to fly Palestinian flag despite protests from Jewish locals

Selma Khayal apparently requested for the Palestinian flag to be raised on October 16, just six hours before the town updated its flag-flying policies

NORTH ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS: North Andover, a Massachusetts town, hoisted the Palestinian flag in its town common at around 9.30 am on Tuesday, November 14, despite a furious outrage from residents.

The black, white, green, and red flag of the Palestinian Liberation Organization was supposedly raised following the approval of a request by a 19-year-old college student, Selma Khayal. 

During the meeting, which was held on Monday night, Palestine supporters argued that it is only fair that their flag should be raised after the flag of Israel was flown after the Hamas terror attack on October 7.

While Selma, a finance student at Bentley University, has not spoken publicly since flag hoisting, her sister Jenna, who spoke at the Town hall meeting, expressed that the flag was neither hateful nor a "terrorist flag."

"Nobody should be protesting any other people's flag. We live in a free country, this is our First Amendment right. We won't let anyone take that from us and we won't take that from anyone else," said Jenna to NBC Boston.

She reportedly spoke on her sister’s behalf at the town meeting, insisting the flag represents nothing but "peace" and the Palestinian people.

Selma Khayal's appeal was approved despite the town’s new flag-flying regulation 

Khayal originally petitioned for the Palestinian flag to be raised on Oct 16, just six hours before the town updated its flag-flying policies.

The former policy allowed anybody to request that any flag be flown in the town after approval by the Select Board "resulting in the flagpole being considered a public forum."

But, with the new policy, the town has eliminated the prospect of the flagpole being used as a public forum and, instead, will be limited to "statements of governmental speech only," with the board citing the 2022 unanimous Supreme Court decision on Shurtleff v Boston.

Select boards must decide on flags in a content-neutral manner, under the 9-0 ruling, unless the town limits flagpole use to official statements exclusively.

"It is the policy of North Andover (Town) that its flag poles located at the Town Common are not intended to serve as a forum for free expression by the public, but rather as expressions of the Town’s official sentiments," reads the updated policy.

Because Khayal's request was placed before the policy was changed, the board handled the petition in accordance with the previous guidelines and permitted debate in a Select Board meeting, which was held on November 13, according to the New York Post.

Police assigned to secure the Palestinian flag

Due to the large number of complaints regarding hoisting the Palestinian flag, North Andover police officers were forced to bind the rope at the top of the flag to prevent anyone from taking it down.

Additionally, it was reported that officers removed an "offensive" placard that had been put close to the flag and replaced it with a permit proving the flag's approval.

North Andover’s decision to hoist the Palestinian flag has sparked a furious outrage, with Marc Freedman, president of the Congregation Ahavat Olam in North Andover, calling it disgusting.

"The town was a coward," said Freedman, adding, "I don't believe the flag should have been raised because today it is a symbol of hatred and anti-Semitism," as per Fox News Digital. 

Rabbi Idan Irelander, who leads Congregation Ahavat Olam, also told NBC that he was disappointed by the administration’s decision

He stated, "As a Jewish community, we are very disappointed. Unfortunately, today the Palestinian flag represents hatred, war, represents anti-Semitism. The raising of the Israeli flag was obviously in solidarity with an American ally." 

As per the permit, the Palestinian flag will remain in place till December 7.