well Patterson is giving a nod to its large Palestinian population a group with such strong ties City officials last year renamed part of Main Street to Palestine way today honoring its kinship by signing a sister city agreement with Ramallah the de facto capital of the state of Palestine located in the West Bank Paving the way for more cultural and Commercial opportunities Melissa Rose Cooper reports a historic moment in Patterson symbolizing a friendship between two cities mayor Andre Sayes signing a sister city agreement with the mayor of Ramallah Palestine and as you can see we are well represented by fellow Palestinians in Patterson as well a little later you will see for yourself why we are so proud of the fact that people from Palestine call Patterson home and I want to point out that we're one of the few cities in the state and maybe in the country that annually raises the Palestinian flag and I think it's fair to say right you have one of the only cities in the country to have a street named Palestine way it is indeed an honor to stand before you representing Ramallah a proud 500 year old city seventy thousand seventy five thousand residents 12 000 square kilometers known as a resilient sustainable culturally visible inclusive diverse optimistic and the business attraction characteristics that I know now are also common with Patterson the sister agreement aims to strengthen relations between Patterson and Ramallah as they work to achieve similar cultural social and economic goals Ramallah and Patterson serve as bustling hubs of economic growth attracting investors and entrepreneurs from around the country together we have the potential to create business opportunities by building on our perspective on our respective strengths and expertise by collaborating in knowledge exchange we can drive Innovation Foster employability and bring economic Prosperity Palestine Indian Americans say the sister agreement also symbolizes a promise of a better future as the country continues to face conflict and so any um like a semblance of Hope is really important to hold on to and at the Palestinian American Community Center these are very important to continue Building New Hope and build the momentum as crop Palestinian myself I know that my constituents my family when they go visit the Homeland when they go visit Palestine they will make sure from Allah is one of the spots that they go to and I know that this agreement now will allow us as best not just a piece of paper on writing we're going to use this for um economic relationships educational relationships to help our city growth we can see the most values and for all those who have contributed to bring out this friendship agreement let us Embrace this opportunity with enthusiasm and dedication by collaborating and working together towards common goals we can create lasting impact and set an example for others to follow a growth the heads of both Patterson and Ramallah say they look forward to fostering together for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose Cooper [Music] [Music]