Were 'Black Flags Of Jihad' Flying Over NYC's Muslim Day Parade?

As dozens of innocent victims were massacred and hundreds more injured during Al-Shabaab's attack on a shopping mall in Kenya (where they reportedly let Muslims go and terrorized non-Muslims), some handmade flags resembling the black flag of Islamic jihad were spotted flying around New York City:

Image: Urban Infidel

There were also white versions on display:

Image: Urban Infidel

TheBlaze commissioned numerous translations of the flags. One could not make it out. Three others said they weren't positive, but that the flags appeared to show the "shehadah," one of the five pillars of Islam that's also said by those converting to Islam and a staple on so called "black flags of jihad." Similar looking flags have been used for numerous reasons, but more recently they have become to be associated with both Al Qaeda and Al-Shebaab -- the group claiming responsibility for the massacre at the Kenyan shopping mall.

The event where these flags were spotted? The annual Muslim Day Parade in New York City.

The poster calls this the "28th Annual United American Muslim Day Parade," however the group's website says that parades started in 1983. That would generally mean this would have been the 30th anniversary, however there were a couple of years that the parade was not held. TheBlaze confirmed this with a representative from parade's organizers. Attendance was estimated to be between 2,500-3,000, or about the same as the previous year.

Blogger Urban Infidel has covered the Muslim Day Parade in the past and offered some observations and opinions from Sunday's event:

It was the same old, same old, with lots more of the same.  No inclusiveness.  No reaching out to their fellow man, just a lot of victimhood and no mention of terrorism, such as the mall siege in Nairobi over the weekend or the suicide bombing of an historic Christian church in Pakistan during services yesterday [Sunday]. Not even a peep about the many innovations that Islam lays claims to.  It was just more Islamic jihad with extra jihad.

Photos and videos from the event showed many attendees were sporting the full burqas and a variety of hijabs. This group shows a burqa-clad foursome carrying the white version of the flags seen above, although it's unclear who they are:

Image: Urban Infidel

There were also a number of pro-Egypt, pro-Muslim Brotherhood and pro-Morsi supporters in the crowd.

Image: Urban Infidel

The "R4BIA" symbol shown in the above poster is the newest logo being used by the Muslim Brotherhood. Front Page Magazine reports, "In English it is officially spelled in capital letters and the letter 'A' is replaced with the number 4. It has become the symbol of the massacre of pro-Morsi supporters in Rabia al-Adawiya Square on August 14, 2013." R4BIA and Morsi could be see on shirts and posters all over the parade.

Image: Urban Infidel

A few local politicians marched in the parade down Madison Avenue. At the end of the short parade route a stage was set up for speakers to address the crowd. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly did not march, but he did attend and stopped for photos with a Muslim police officers group, as well as citizens in the crowd.

Image: Urban Infidel

Watch video showing a variety of scenes from the parade.

See more photos and videos here.

(H/T: Urban Infidel)

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