Wampanoag tribal member goes viral after raising Palestinian flag during Macy’s Day Parade.
During New York City’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade , a Mashpee Wampanoag tribal member riding the Wampanoag Tribe’s parade float held up a Palestinian flag .
A video that shows the tribal member holding up the Palestinian flag went viral on social media sites like TikTok. In one particular TikTok video, the tribal member is referred to as a “legend.” The video had 44,800 views and 535 comments as of Friday.
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe leaders, in turn, responded to the incident.
“It’s unfortunate that we are not focused on the beautiful display of our culture and history at the Macy’s Day Parade but rather on the actions of an individual tribal citizen,” read the statement.
The tribe wasn’t involved in the planning of the float and only became aware of the tribal member’s actions when they saw the parade live stream on television, according to Steven Peters, communications director for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe could not confirm the tribal member’s name on Friday, said Peters.
The Tribe’s statement said its governing body and other tribal citizens on the float were not involved with the tribal member’s actions.
“We want to make it very clear that the Tribe takes no stance on the conflicts overseas,” read the statement. “Our Tribal Nation remains focused on the issues we face on our ancestral homeland.”
The tribal member wasn’t the only one to insert Palestine concerns into the parade. Several videos show demonstrators blocking the parade to protest the treatment of Palestinians by Israel in the ongoing war .
Local news outlets Fox 5 and Newsday , as well as online news site FreedomNews.TV , published videos appearing to show protesters donning white jumpsuits and crossing spectator barricades in front of the ongoing parade. The incident appeared to take place Thursday morning.
Footage appeared to show the demonstration on Sixth Avenue through Midtown Manhattan along the parade route . The protesters carried a banner that read “Liberation for Palestine and Planet,” videos showed.
