Yonkers police investigate a threatening letter sent over a family’s Palestinian flags

Yonkers police are trying to find out who left an anonymous letter at a Palestinian American family’s home threatening them over the Palestinian flags outside. Homeowner Samir Nofal said the unsigned note turned up in his mailbox.

Nofal said the writer demanded that the flags come down right away. The letter claimed federal immigration authorities had been alerted and warned that the house was under surveillance. Another line told the family they were not wanted there.

Yonkers family says the flags will stay up

Nofal is an Uber driver, a father of seven and a U.S. citizen. He said the letter has made him more determined. He said he would answer any new threat by tripling the flags, and that after a fourth threat he would paint his house in the Palestinian flag.

He called the unknown sender a coward with no respect for the country or its Constitution. He also said he wants his children, who were born and raised in the United States, to have the same rights as anyone else.

Officials and advocates respond to the letter

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano condemned the letter in a statement. He said he strongly disagreed with its tone and that the family has a right to fly its flag. “There is no place for hate in Yonkers,” Spano said.

On Thursday, CAIR-NY, which calls itself the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights group, asked city leaders to condemn the incident publicly. Board member Zead Ramadan said officials should speak up for constitutional rights and promise a full investigation.

Police in Yonkers are working to identify the sender. The bias crime unit of the Westchester County district attorney’s office has also been notified of the case.