A boycott aimed at Jewish-owned restaurants in Philadelphia was supposed to empty their tables.
Instead, it produced lines around the block.
Hundreds of people flooded into Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square on Sunday after an anti-Israel cycling group organized what it called a “Boycott Ride” targeting six restaurants. Supporters responded by buying food, waving Israeli and American flags and refusing to let the businesses stand alone.
The scene outside Goldie told the story. A protest meant to cost the restaurant customers instead delivered a massive crowd of them:
The Times of Israel reports that the ride was organized by Philly Bike On Your Left and aimed at businesses activists labeled “Zionist establishments.” Police blanketed the area as more than 1,000 counterprotesters and supporters gathered along the route.
The targeted restaurants included Goldie, K’Far and Dizengoff, which are part of the CookNSolo restaurant group co-founded by Israeli-American chef Michael Solomonov. Huda, Mac Mart and Schlesinger’s Deli were also placed on the boycott list.
Every one of the six businesses is Jewish-owned, according to published reports. By the time the riders arrived, customers had already transformed the planned boycott stops into public displays of support.
That distinction matters. Political activists are free to criticize Israel, its government or any war policy they oppose.
Organizing economic pressure against a list of local Jewish-owned restaurants crosses a line that ordinary Philadelphians clearly recognized.
Axios Philadelphia reported before the event that Mayor Cherelle Parker and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro had condemned the targeting of the restaurants. Shapiro’s office described the planned ride as antisemitism masquerading as a justice protest, while Parker said Philadelphia should reject attempts to intimidate Jewish residents and businesses.
The organizers disputed the accusation and said the restaurants were selected over their owners’ alleged support for Israel. Yet the published route named six Jewish-owned businesses and encouraged riders to apply economic pressure at their doors.
But the route still targeted six Jewish-owned businesses on the eve of the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht—the Nazi pogrom of November 9-10, 1938, when Jewish homes, synagogues and businesses were smashed and burned across Germany and Austria.
That timing made the effort especially chilling. It also made the community’s answer especially powerful.
Religion News Service reports that hundreds of customers turned the threatened boycott into a food crawl. Supporters formed long lines outside the restaurants, ordered meals and carried Israeli and American flags, while community leaders urged people to support the owners without seeking a physical confrontation.
The crowds were spread among several stops on the route, making the counterprotest more than a single rally at one storefront. The response followed the boycott riders from business to business and ensured the targeted owners saw customers—not empty tables—when the demonstration arrived.
That was the winning response: peaceful, visible and impossible to ignore.
Three protesters were arrested during the demonstration, according to Religion News Service. Two police officers suffered minor injuries, and authorities reported no property damage.
The most important result was not the shouting or the arrests. It was the sight of Americans standing shoulder to shoulder outside neighborhood businesses and answering intimidation with solidarity.
No government program had to organize it, and no politician had to order it.
People saw what was happening, showed up and voted with their wallets.
The boycott did not isolate the restaurants. It revealed how many neighbors were willing to defend them.
That is how a free people should answer hate: refuse to be intimidated, protect the innocent and make the attempted punishment backfire.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
The post IT BACKFIRED: Anti-Israel Boycott Targets Jewish-Owned Restaurants—Then Hundreds Flood In To Support Them appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.
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