In recent weeks, an Israeli and pride flag have been stolen from Hoboken City Hall and a Hoboken restaurant, respectively. Following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, which left about 1,200 Israelis dead, the City of Hoboken decided to place an Israeli flag at half-mast at city hall to commemorate the victims. At around the same time, a pride flag flying outside of Hoboken restaurant Uncle Milton’s Cafe was vandalized for the first time. Then, last week, its flag was vandalized again.
Uncle Milton’s Cafe is a restaurant and coffee shop in central Hoboken. A large part of the establishment’s branding is its support of the LGBTQ+ community; The cafe is self-described on it’s website as “an inclusive environment open to everyone LGBTQ+ friendly.” The cafe has reassuring messages on its walls as part of its decor, and has a reading corner with books for LGBTQ+ youth. Pride flags are important symbols for the LGBTQ+ community, and many ally or LGBTQ+-owned establishments use them as a signal that they are inclusive.
Uncle Milton’s Cafe has a pride flag hanging opposite its American flag right outside its doors. Twice now, Uncle Milton’s owner, Milton Canales, has found his flag vandalized. The first time Canales found his flag in an ugly state, he said that the vandals “burned the sides first, then they slashed it, and they left it hanging.” The second time, the flag was wrapped around the cafe’s door handles in a possible attempt to keep the doors closed to the public. Canales admits that these flag-takedowns are scary, but maintains that “all that stuff is not going to bring me down.”
There is currently a war occuring in the Middle East between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. On October 7, Hamas, in a surprise offensive, attacked Israeli towns surrounding its home base of the Gaza Strip. Since then Hoboken city government decided to have an Israeli flag fly outside of city hall to mourn and show solidarity with the hundreds of Israelis who were massacred or hostaged by Hamas. Previous updates on the situation can be found in previous editions of the Stute on the website.
This Israeli flag was torn down and stolen at around 10 p.m. on October 20, as shown in video surveillance. Soon after the flag was replaced, a statement was published by the mayor’s office: “I want to make it unequivocally clear that we will not tolerate such behavior in our community. Hoboken is a diverse city that has always stood for fairness and inclusivity.” Acts of anti-semitism have been on the rise in recent years, and in particular since last month’s attacks and ensuing war. A police investigation is ongoing, and the stealing of the flag is being seen as both vandalism and an anti-semitic hate crime.
Freedom of speech and expression is a fundamental right here in the United States. Respect for each other, and each other’s property, is a fundamental requirement for a civilized society. The tearing down of these three flags is a rejection of those principles. Although neither of the perpetrators of these crimes have been found yet, Hoboken police are working hard to find those responsible and bring them to justice.
