‘Nakedly antisemitic’: Anti-Israel protesters thwarted as Philadelphians defend beloved Jewish-owned restaurants 

More than 300 anti-Israel protesters marched or biked in downtown Philadelphia Sunday to boycott six Jewish-owned restaurants, but roughly 200 supporters arrived in their defense, according to Philadelphia police.

Philly Bike On Your Left led several groups on bikes around Rittenhouse Square, stopping near each of the targeted restaurants – Dizengoff, Goldie and K’Far Cafe, Huda, Schlessinger’s Deli and Mac Mart – to show “solidarity with Palestinians,” Jewish Insider reports. A flyer posted to social media displayed red circles with slashes across the names of the restaurants, the local ABC affiliate reported.

Several groups joined the ride, led by Philly Bike On Your Left, which claimed the protesters “proudly stand in solidarity with the brave people of Palestine,” according to a statement from Boycott Cooknsolo. The group has ostracized all “restaurants and products owned by the Philadelphia-based restaurant group CookNSolo” because of the owners’ support for Israel. The same group accused the businesses of “cultural theft and genocide” because of their support for Israel, a nation the statement placed in quotation marks.

“As the political ideology of Zionism dies a long deserved death these businesses will die with it. Free Palestine,” the statement concludes.

The protest occurred the day before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, when anti-Jewish protesters attacked, looted and destroyed Jewish businesses across Nazi Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland on Nov. 9-10, 1938. Boycott Cooknsolo and other groups denied the association with the anniversary, claiming the date was chosen for “practical reasons.”

“Invoking Kristallnacht is a cynical and hollow attempt by Zionists to make an educational bicycle ride sound violent or motivated by bigotry,” Boycott Cooknsolo’s statement reads. “It is offensive given the reality Palestinians experience at the hands of the Zionist project.”

The protest followed a Friday lunch arranged by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s Jewish Community Relations Council at Dizengoff in Center City. Several Pennsylvania politicians attended, including Pennsylvania first lady Lori Shapiro and Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

The protest lasted roughly an hour, with no reported property damage. Restaurant fans and local supporters arrived to defend the businesses, forming “a protective barrier” between the restaurants and the protesters, according to Jewish Insider.

“I’m 37 years old and in 37 years I have never felt this amount of support,” Marti Lieberman, the owner of Mac Mart, told Jewish Insider. “While it’s overwhelming, it has totally overshadowed anything the protesters were trying to do today.”

Police arrested three people Sunday during the demonstration: a man and a woman for disorderly conduct and a 17-year-old boy on charges of assaulting a police officer, Jewish Insider reported.

Since Sunday’s events, several state leaders have condemned the anti-Israel protesters, but other prominent politicians have remained silent. They include Rep.-elect Chris Rabb, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), who will represent the district that includes Rittenhouse Square beginning in January, Jewish Insider also reported.

Instead, the DSA criticized various statements condemning the protests, claiming the rebukes were “unacceptable uses of political power, designed to delegitimize and chill acts of solidarity in the fight for Palestinian liberation,” according to Jewish Insider.

Shanin Specter, an attorney and son of former Sen. Arlen Specter, who spent time in both the Republican and Democratic parties, called the actions against the Jewish-owned businesses “nakedly antisemitic,” Jewish Insider reported. He added that Rabb’s silence on the events marked a “declaration of war on the Jewish community in Philadelphia.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and the Anti-Defamation League also issued statements calling Rabb’s silence “deeply troubling.”

“His silence … raises a fundamental question about how he intends to represent and stand up for all of his constituents, including Philadelphia’s Jewish community,” the federation said, according to Jewish Insider.

Philly Bike On Your Left is planning another bike protest, “the ride of return,” for Sunday, Nov. 15.

(Image credit: Screenshot/X/CBS News)