A tale of 2 restaurants.
Reem’s café and bakery is adorned
with a floor to ceiling image of a confessed murderer- Rasmea Odeh, a convicted terrorist responsible for the
deaths of 2 young men in a Jerusalem bombing nearly 20 years ago. Peaceful vigils by a group of community
elders opposed to the glorification of violence were violently attacked by ReemAssil’s staff and patrons.
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| Ellen Brotsky of JVP attacking an elderly man at Reems, Fruitvale Oakland |
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| Lara Kiswani of the Arab Resource Organizing Center and Ellen Brotsky with posters ripped out of the hands of community elders. |
Contrast and compare
Mannys in San Francisco is under protest by alt-left fringe groups, threatening to run him out of town.
Its not about the artwork Manny has chosen to display- glorious representations of our diverse community. Its about who Manny is- a proud and progressive queer Jew who happens to fail the litmus test of political correctness- and accepts the right of the Jewish people to self determination. Manny’s business has been vandalized with anti-Semitic imagery. His windows have been broken.
Manny’s response to the protesters harassing his customers was to invite them in to talk. They refused. The community response has also been open and loving. There have not been violent attacks against the protesters, or attempts to silence their voices. The community instead has embraced Manny, his shop and his mission. On Wednesday evenings, the day of the protests, Manny’s restaurant has been packed with patrons, celebrating in the community gathering space that Manny has created. .
Its not about the artwork Manny has chosen to display- glorious representations of our diverse community. Its about who Manny is- a proud and progressive queer Jew who happens to fail the litmus test of political correctness- and accepts the right of the Jewish people to self determination. Manny’s business has been vandalized with anti-Semitic imagery. His windows have been broken.
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| Mannys vandalized with spray painted Jewish star. Photo from Mission Local |
Manny’s response to the protesters harassing his customers was to invite them in to talk. They refused. The community response has also been open and loving. There have not been violent attacks against the protesters, or attempts to silence their voices. The community instead has embraced Manny, his shop and his mission. On Wednesday evenings, the day of the protests, Manny’s restaurant has been packed with patrons, celebrating in the community gathering space that Manny has created. .
The community will continue to respond to these attacks with light and with love.
Read more about Manny's:
1 comment:
nice flyer, i like how the leftist anti-Semites are against anti-semitism. oh the irony of it all. looks like Manny's is the new Cliff's Variety. which is why i made a point of buying my SodaStream from Cliff's some years back even though i live in The East Bay https://proisraelctu.blogspot.com/2016/09/my-new-sodastream-fizzi-from-cliffs.html
it was a simultaneous thank you to Cliff's and fu%& you to BDS.
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