On Saturday, a group gathered outside “Goldie” – a Jewish-owned falafel outlet in Philadelphia – loudly chanting accusations against the restaurant. The incident elicited strong reactions from both Pennsylvania’s governor and other political figures.
Mike Solomonov, an Israeli-born chef who was raised in Pittsburgh, and who is renowned for winning the James Beard Award, is the owner of the falafel chain. The protesters’ chants included “Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.”
Protestors in Philadelphia stand outside of a Jewish & Israeli owned falafel restaurant“Goldie, Goldie you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” pic.twitter.com/yF7hQwev66
— Jordan (@thatJVG) December 3, 2023
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said: “Tonight in Philly, we witnessed a blatant act of antisemitism. This was not a peaceful protest. A restaurant was targeted and mobbed simply because its owner is Jewish and Israeli. Such hate and bigotry are reminiscent of a very dark time in history.”
US Rep. Brendan Boyle (D, 2nd District) said he couldn’t believe he had to say it, but “targeting businesses simply because they’re Jewish-owned is despicable. Philadelphia stands against this sort of harassment and hate.”
Organizers of the march praised October 7 massacre
The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that the march was organized by the Philly Palestine Coalition.
In October, the group called for a boycott of Zionist-owned businesses, including Goldie and others owned by Solomonov.
The organization shared positive messages on social media on October 7, despite the murder of women and children. Memes such as “Palestine lives,” and “The resistance lives” were published there, while they claimed that “Hamas rampaged and invaded three Israeli towns” at the time.
Their protests extended to local Philly media, with the coalition criticizing the alleged disproportionate coverage of the Ukrainian crisis – compared to Gaza. They argued that “when Ukraine was invaded, our news cycles were flooded with images and testimonies of sadness and loss from poor Ukrainian civilians. Now, local media wants to ignore the people of Gaza being bombed, denied electricity, food and water, and turns a blind eye to occupation.”
“It is antisemitic and completely unjustifiable to target restaurants that serve Israeli food over disagreements with Israeli policy,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates notably said yesterday in response.
“This behavior reveals the kind of cruel and senseless double standard that is a calling card of antisemitism,” Bates further punctuated, adding that US President Joe Biden would “always stand up firmly against these kinds of undignified actions.”