CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — A Camden County officeholder called on the Eagles owner to discipline security personnel who ejected George Norcross from Lincoln Financial Field and removed his banner that featured the Israeli flag.
Norcross, a Democratic power broker, displayed a banner from his luxury box that combined the Israeli and American flags during the Eagles’ Nov. 5 match. Video shows Norcross angrily arguing with stadium security before they escorted him from the Lincoln Financial Field suite and removed the sign.
The Eagles claim that Norcross violated stadium policy by displaying messaging that wasn’t game-related. Stadium staff repeatedly asked Norcross to remove the banner and only ejected him after he became “physically and verbally abusive,” the team said.
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But Jeffrey L. Nash, a Camden County commissioner, stood up for Norcross in a letter to Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. Nash claims the flag’s removal represents “a clear case of antisemitism/anti-Zionism that would warrant the discipline of your guard and his supervisor and a statement of moral clarity from you and your team.”
Nash wrote the letter, dated Monday, in his official capacity as a commissioner. (Read the letter below.)
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The Democratic officeholder also called on Lurie “as a Jew, as an American, as the owner of a popular team — to make a full investigation as to the reasons behind this incident, and to make a clear statement that antisemitism and/or acts of hatred will not be tolerated at Eagles games.”
Nash, who is also Jewish, is an active member of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey and formerly served on the organization’s board of directors.
“Looking over past actions of the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles,” Nash wrote, “it seems symbolic statements of support for other causes have been permitted at games.”
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It’s unclear which symbolic statements Nash is referencing. A county spokesperson didn’t respond to Patch’s questions about the letter.
Following his ejection from Lincoln Financial Field, Norcross said the following:
“As a longtime passionate fan and season ticket holder, I have watched the Eagles/NFL make clear and strong statements on numerous important civil justice issues and ethnic and world conflicts, including supporting the people of Ukraine, so as a strong supporter of Israel — a country which was viciously attacked by the terrorist group Hamas less than a month ago — I thought it was an important statement to make.”
The Eagles, however, claimed that Norcross’s removal had “nothing to do with the content of his sign.”
“Our stadium policies expressly prohibit signage containing any kind of non-game messaging to be hung from a stadium suite,” the team’s statement said. “Stadium staff repeatedly asked Mr. Norcross to remove the sign he hung outside of the suite. Instead of complying with the request, Mr. Norcross became physically and verbally abusive. Mr. Norcross was ejected from the stadium only after his abuse toward numerous stadium staff members continued.”
In the first full week of gameplay following Oct. 7’s Hamas-led attack on Israel, teams across the league held a moment of silence for the Jewish state. Both the Eagles and the NFL condemned the attack. On Oct. 22, the Eagles placed 10 American flags in front of 10 empty seats — the number of Americans believed to be held by Hamas as hostages at that time.
The NFL and its teams embrace certain social causes and patriotic displays at games. But they tend to involve pre-approved messaging, such as the annual My Cause My Cleats initiative, or coordinated traditions, such as military flyovers.
But when it comes to fans, Lincoln Financial Field prohibits signs and banners that contain any messaging that’s “not event-related.” Stadium staff may confiscate signs that violate the policy.
Norcross, a Camden native, is an insurance executive and Democratic Party organizer. The South Jersey political boss has long been considered one of New Jersey’s most powerful non-elected political figures, if not the most powerful.
His presence is perhaps greatest in his native Camden County — a Democratic stronghold where Republicans haven’t won a county-wide election since 1990. He also chairs the board of trustees for Cooper Health System and Cooper University Hospital — both based in Camden.
Hamas’s attack against Israel killed roughly 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in the deadliest attack against Jewish people since the Holocaust. The militant group, which governs Gaza, also seized around 240 hostages.
Israel responded with ongoing airstrikes that have killed more than 11,200 Palestinians, including more than 4,600 children, as of Wednesday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More children were killed in the Gaza Strip in three weeks than in all global armed conflicts annually since 2019, according to Save the Children.
View Nash’s full letter to Lurie below:
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