JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Swastika flag is flying outside of a business in Jacksonville on Philips Highway, and it's causing growing concerns in the community.
Four flags fly outside of 904x4, an off-road truck and repair shop, but it's the Swastika flag that stands out.
"Yeah I just put that up today," said Radi Ahmed, owner of 904x4. "I put it out there in remembrance of the Holocaust."
Ahmed is Palestinian and said the flag symbolizes what he's calling a "modern-day Holocaust" happening in Palestine during the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.
"What happened in World War II is happening today," Ahmed told First Coast News. "It's a modern-day Holocaust and nobody's saying anything about it. Voicing the opinion for my people, my cousins, my family, members my country, people that are getting bombarded and killed and displaced. They’re getting their homes demolished."
The Swastika flag is catching the attention of many drivers including Mariam Feist, CEO of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Northeast Florida.
"This act is nothing short of hatred and looks to divide and polarize the community and we condemn this," said Feist.
Feist said she is not focusing on the owner, but the act.
"That act demonstrates polarization and hatred," Fiest said. "That flag does nothing but denote antisemitism and Jew hatred that is condemned not only by the Jewish community, it is condemned by our city and that’s what I’m focusing on."
Ahmed said he doesn't have plans on taking down the flag during business hours.
"It’s not condoning any kind of hate," said Ahmed. "I love everybody no matter what color, creed or where they come from."
Ahmed clarified to First Coast News that he will take down the flag each night when he closes his business, then plans to put it back up each morning when he opens.