Mayor Donna Deegan speaks Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, during the Ramallah Club of Jacksonville's officer induction ceremony. | City of Jacksonville
Published on January 28, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan is responding to criticism about photos posted on her social media account Tuesday — on Holocaust Remembrance Day — of her speaking at The Ramallah Club, an organization serving Palestinians.
The Jewish Federation of Northeast Florida is the latest entity to call out the timing of the photos, which the federation called “insensitive and tone deaf.”
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Deegan administration officials confirmed that the photo was taken Saturday during the mayor’s speech at The Ramallah Club’s annual installation of officers, but was not posted until Tuesday.
Jacksonville’s Ramallah Club is a longstanding local chapter of the American Federation of Ramallah, a nonprofit and nonpolitical civic and cultural organization that serves Palestinians who trace their roots to the city of Ramallah.
The pictures at the center of the dustup show Deegan speaking at a podium draped with a keffiyeh — a traditional Palestinian scarf — next to a Palestinian flag.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
The pressure appears to have started when Jeremy Redfern, communications director for Florida State Attorney General James Uthmeier, took to X to criticize the image of Deegan on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and described her in the picture as “next to a Palestinian flag and behind a keffiyeh commonly worn by and associated with Hamas terrorists.”
In what a Deegan administration spokesperson said was a response to Redfern, the mayor explained the installation ceremony in a tweet of her own, which noted that Republican City Council member Ron Salem and U.S. Rep. John Rutherford also attended the event.
“Anyone from Jacksonville knows the Ramallah Club is a Palestinian civic organization that was founded by Christians from Ramallah and that has been contributing to our city for more than a century,” Deegan wrote. “I was proud to be joined on the dais by Councilman Ron Salem, a longtime member of the club, and was pleased to see Congressman John Rutherford there as well to celebrate the club’s impact on Saturday.
“It’s disappointing to see partisan actors use people’s rich heritage to divide our community,” said Deegan, who is of Lebanese descent.
The Jewish Federation’s news release and social media post on Wednesday said the group agrees with Deegan’s view that “Jacksonville is a place where everyone has a voice.”
But the organization characterized the “timing and symbolism” of her original post as “deeply disappointing and caused significant pain within the Jewish community.”
“The Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida is deeply saddened and disheartened by a social media post shared yesterday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, by Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan on X (formerly Twitter), posting a photo of herself with a keffiyeh and Palestinian flag,” the federation wrote.
“While we believe our mayor should speak to and engage with every community, posting a photo of herself with a keffiyeh and Palestinian flag on Holocaust Remembrance Day was insensitive and tone deaf. This day is a solemn, nonpolitical moment dedicated to honoring the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and standing against antisemitism.”
In an email to Jacksonville Today, the city’s chief communications officer, Phil Perry, said the Ramallah Club event photo should have been posted on Saturday instead of Tuesday. He acknowledged that the city should have posted something Tuesday to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“The city of Jacksonville typically posts on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and we simply had an unfortunate calendar oversight this year,” Perry said.
The email continued with a list of examples where Deegan has celebrated and/or worked with Jacksonville’s Jewish Community.
“Mayor Deegan has consistently demonstrated her commitment to standing with the Jewish community and against bigotry and hatred in our city.
“That is why she became the first Jacksonville mayor to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month with a ceremony in the City Hall Atrium; why she spoke at the one-year remembrance of October 7th at the Jacksonville Jewish Center; why she has repeatedly called for all elected officials to speak out against rising antisemitism in Florida; why she was the first local leader to denounce hateful messaging projected onto Everbank Stadium; why she appeared as the keynote speaker at the Jewish Federation’s screening of “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting”; and why she will continue her commitment to make our city a place where all its residents feel safe and heard,” Perry wrote.
Ramallah members’ take
Salem often speaks fondly during City Council meetings of his membership in the Ramallah Club. In a statement to Jacksonville Today, he took issue with Deegan not publicly recognizing Holocaust Remembrance Day this year.
“The Ramallah community is an important part of the fabric of our city. I’ll always take part in recognizing that as my heritage, and I’m proud of that,” Salem said in a text message. “Last night at the Jacksonville City Council meeting, my colleagues and I took a moment of silence and reflection for the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. This day serves as reflection and a reminder of the victims and that horror must never happen again.
“I find it appalling that Mayor Deegan failed to recognize that yesterday, and I think she owes the Jacksonville Jewish community an apology.”
Joy Batteh-Freiha, past Ramallah Club of Jacksonville president and the current national president of the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine, defended Deegan in a reply to Redfern’s tweet.
“This characterization of Mayor Deegan simply doesn’t reflect what actually occurred! She was there at the Ramallah Club’s invitation, along with Congressman John Rutherford and City Councilman Ron Salem, to witness the swearing in of the club’s new officers,” Batteh-Freiha wrote.
