A Florida tire shop is under fire for flying a Nazi flag outside a busy highway on Wednesday, as the owner defended his actions by claiming it is meant to protest “a modern-day holocaust” in Gaza.
Radi Ahmad, the owner of the 904 x 4 on Philips Highway in Spring Park, said the stunt is his way of reminding people that what Palestinians are going through in Gaza is supposedly the same as what Jewish people experienced during World War II under Nazi Germany.
“I put that out there to bring awareness, to bring remembrance … to let people understand, we’re living … or Palestinians are living in a modern-day holocaust,” Ahmad told Action News Jax.
The 904 x 4 tire shop on Philips Highway in Spring Park, Florida, is flying a Nazi flag. WJAX-TV
Owner Radi Ahmad said he was flying the disturbing flag to protest the war in Gaza, claiming Israel was causing a “modern-day holocaust” against Palestinians. WJAX-TV“They are going through hardships, starvation, demolishing other homes,” he added. “There’s so much hate, so much cruelty out there, and we’re witnessing it firsthand.”
Ahmad’s message, however, has been slammed as a clear display of antisemitism, with the Nazi flag representing the systematic slaughter of about 6 million Jews in the attempt to eradicate the race.
“This act of hatred and antisemitism, which attempts to compare contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis, is not only reprehensible but a direct affront to our Jewish community and our history,” Mariam Feist, CEO of the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida, said in a statement.
“One Nazi flag in Northeast Florida is too many,” she added.
The flag has been slammed by local Jewish groups who say flying the banner is a clear act of antisemitism given its history. WJAX-TVAhmad refutes the allegations, insisting that there is nothing inherently antisemitic about the Nazi flag.
“There’s nothing on there that says antisemitic, anti-Jew, anti-black or anti-anybody,” he said, adding that he has no plans to take down the flag during business hours.
“Unfortunately, nobody is standing behind us; there is no help,” Ahmad added. “If you’re carrying an Israeli flag, what does that stand for today? That stands for the same thing.”
The owner said he will continue to fly the Nazi flag during business hours. WJAX-TVFeist ultimately slammed the display as intolerable, especially given that it was flying during Holocaust Survivors Day and D-Day, “adding to the pain and anger felt by our community.”
Derrick Blunt, who lives across the street from the tire shop, echoed the outrage and said the flag was a blatant symbol of “racism.”
“You never know people until they show themselves, and he’s really showing himself to me now,” Blunt told News Jax.
