Artist and activist Kyle Goen's sculpture "Gaza Love" (2014) was permanently installed outside the South Paterson Library Community Center in Paterson, New Jersey, as part of the city's newly dedicated Gaza Square on Main Street. The unveiling took place on Palestine Day, May 17, and commemorates Paterson's large diasporic Palestinian community. The sculpture, which borrows the typography of Robert Indiana's LOVE series and the colors of the Palestinian flag, originated during protests against the 2014 Gaza War and has been used in organizing spaces for over a decade, including during the 2021 Strike MoMA movement.
The installation matters because it represents a rare permanent public art monument explicitly honoring Palestinian identity and resilience in a U.S. city, at a time of heightened conflict and loss in Gaza. Goen's work challenges the commercialization of art, emphasizing love as a form of solidarity and resistance. The sculpture anchors Gaza Square, a five-block stretch of Main Street renamed Palestine Way in 2022, reflecting the growing visibility and political expression of the Palestinian diaspora through public art and civic recognition.