Following my original post on the Paterson New Jersey council vote to approve renaming a portion of Main Street ‘Palestine Way, a friend of mine – who lived a mile from there – informed me that the streets were filled with people celebrating the attack of the twin towers on 9/11, handing out candies to the kids and dancing in the streets. She added all of the news sites have since removed the original coverage of the evening from their history.
At the time, I meant to follow up on this, but am ashamed to say I forgot. Until today. Because following my post on the renaming that occurred yesterday, another friend contacted me with a similar story:
I was born and raised in Paterson, and taught in one the local high schools when Palestinians were starting to move into the area. Paterson had a rich Jewish history, with an early mikvah and a thriving and very active Jewish community. We made Aliyah before 9/11, but my mother was still living in Paterson at the time and told us of reports of Palestinians celebrating in the streets (she also said those reports disappeared very quickly). I had history and English teachers in the high school tell me that Palestinian students would walk out when the topic being covered had anything to do with the Holocaust (Holocaust studies was mandated by the state at that time). All in all, I am not surprised at all by the news- in fact, I’m surprised it took so long.
Having two separate people who lived there inform me that there were reports of palestinian Arabs celebrating in the streets and these reports being quickly removed definitely lends credence to this actually having occurred. Although some, like ABC News, reject this:
There have only been anecdotal reports and rumors of small groups of people celebrating the attacks in Paterson and Jersey City, New Jersey — none of which were televised at the time and none of which have been confirmed.
Meanwhile, northjersey.com has a photo collage titled Where some Sept. 11 hijackers spent their last days in NJ, which includes photos with the following captions:
The PNC Bank on Main St. in Paterson where hijacker Hani Hanjour withdrew $505.00 from an ATM on June 10, 2001. This is one of several locations throughout northern New Jersey used by the 911 hijackers in the months preceding the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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Hani Hanjour, who was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon, and Nawaf al Hazmi, who was one of the hijackers who took over control of American Airlines Flight 77, were two of several hijackers that lived at this residence at 486 Union Ave. in Paterson. This is one of several locations throughout northern New Jersey used by the 911 hijackers in the months preceding the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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Apollo International Travel at 1009 Main St. in Paterson, where hijacker Abdul al Omari obtained a photo ID on July 1, 2001 and fellow hijacker Mohamed Atta bought an airline ticket on July 4, 2001. This is one of several locations throughout northern New Jersey used by the 911 hijackers in the months preceding the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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Mohammed Atta made a phone call from a pay phone at then-Tony’s Hairstylist, at 177 Market in Paterson on July 28, 2001. This is one of several locations throughout northern New Jersey used by the 911 hijackers in the months preceding the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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152 Market St. in Paterson. This is the former site of a business that sold phony “international drivers licenses” — mostly to undocumented immigrants. At least two of the hijackers bought licenses there. This is one of several locations throughout northern New Jersey used by the 911 hijackers in the months preceding the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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Mohamed Atta made a call on July 29, 2001 from a pay phone that used to be on this corner of Main St. in Paterson when it was Julian’s Hardware. This is one of several locations throughout northern New Jersey used by the 911 hijackers in the months preceding the attacks of September 11, 2001.
And in 2017 Sayfullo Saipov, a resident of Paterson, was behind a deadly terror attack in lower Manhattan that killed eight people.
It certainly sounds like they have adopted ‘Palestine Way’ in more ways than one.
