Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood divided over political display

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA (FOX 29) - A roadside display has a Philadelphia neighborhood talking, but the creator says she put it up outside her home in Philadelphia's Bustleton neighborhood for a reason.

"Outrage, afraid for the community and felt disrespected." Just some of the emotions that Palestinian-American activist Mohamed Yousef feels about this display at the corner of Dungan and Hoff in Northeast Philadelphia.

The display has a mannequin dressed in traditional Muslim clothing, along with a political message that says, 'People without borders have no country!' and 'Build The Wall' referring to the ongoing debate in Washington over border security. It also includes the Palestinian flag.

"Let's say another person sees that more sick in the head and says oh the next time I see a Muslim woman wearing this I'm going to attack," Yousef said.

"Fake outrage. Oh, that's offensive to me. Automatically, oh it's offensive. They think they can shut people up but no, sorry I have a valid point," Gail Amin said.

Amin put up the display and says she wants people to see what can happen if the United States does not build a wall by looking at what she says happened to Palestine during uncontrolled immigration in the late 30s and 40s.

"I was thinking like they lost a country," Amin said. "We've has a lot of immigration since the 1960s. I'm thinking maybe now it's time to take a break."

"In that time span, they didn't even refer to themselves as Palestine. On top of that, the borders were not really defined," Yousef said.

Amin says her husband was Palestinian and that she's just trying to provide a history lesson.

But neighbors are divided and worry the mannequin could cause harm.

"I feel she's going to cause some violence in this neighborhood and that's not a good thing to have," neighbor Sal Javeed said.

In the meantime, others say it's all about free speech.

"We are a good neighborhood. We love everybody and we feel that she should be allowed to express her opinions on everything," Joan Lynch said.

FOX 29's Dave Kinchen reported the display was knocked or fell over Monday night.