In true Palestinian fashion, we have decided to host a street festival along with the renaming ceremony, which will be hosted by the City of Paterson from 3-3:30 PM between Gould Ave and Buffalo Ave. We thank the Paterson City Councilmembers, specifically the first Palestinian American City Councilman, Alaa Abdelaziz, for initiating and being supportive of the renaming. We appreciate the councilmembers’ recognition of the contributions of Palestinians to the growth and development of the city of Paterson.

This street festival represents more than just an honoring of the renaming of the area to ‘Palestine Way’, but also pays honor and respect to the Palestinian diaspora, who has remained present, loud, and resilient in the face of decades of displacement, refugeehood, and erasure.

The street festival will consist of vendors, informational booths, a fun-filled kids zone, singers, and of course, dabka! All the stores and small businesses in the area will also remain open for food and more shopping opportunities. Make sure you join us and enjoy the best Palestinian food and entertainment the state of New Jersey has to offer.

This festival pays homage to the generations of Palestinian families that poured their hearts and souls into calling Paterson, NJ home by establishing businesses and infrastructures that have sustained the area of South Paterson. The backlash many in our community have already received because of this renaming does not scare nor surprise us, it instead exposes the reality of the Zionist colonial goal of erasing the name of Palestine. We continue to, as we have done for the past 74 years, teach the world about Palestinian culture, heritage, and unity in spite of decades of occupation and harassment.

We invite the press and media outlets to join us for both the renaming ceremony and the entire festival to get a little taste of authentic Palestinian celebratory spaces and to highlight the Palestinian love of life, community, and sumud (steadfastness).