Ask Food & Wine magazine to retract their endorsement of Reem's

Food & Wine magazine which made a truly reprehensible, anti-Israel, anti-Jews living, pro-Arab Palestinian terrorism decision.

In April 2018, Food & Wine Magazine named Oakland's "Reem's California" one of their 2018 Restaurants of the Year. The magazine paints the Arab Bakery as a "vehicle for healing" where Jews and Arabs can eat together and enjoy a meal in peace.

The restaurant also has a wall-sized mural of convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh, who was found guilty of two bombings in Jerusalem, including one that killed two innocent Hebrew University students, Leon Kanner and Eddie Joffe, at a supermarket in 1969. She was sentenced to life in prison but was released in 1979 as part of a prisoner swap with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Odeh did not disclose her criminal record when she applied for a U.S. Visa in 1994, or when she applied for citizenship in 2004. She pleaded guilty in April 2017 to misleading U.S. immigration officials, and finally had her citizenship revoked in August 2017 and was deported to Jordan from Chicago.

As such, it is completely irresponsible for Food & Wine Magazine to choose Reem's California as one of their Restaurants of the Year and subsequently condone the honoring and glorification of convicted supermarket bomber and terrorist Rasmea Odeh.

In response to criticism of the magazine's decision to honor a restaurant that openly supports those who commit violent attacks against Jews and Israelis, Editor-in-Chief Hunter Lewis responded by saying, "To dismiss Reem Assil and Reem’s based on the mural of a divisive figure is to deny the full impact of this restaurant, its role in the Oakland community, and its place in a global social and political conversation. We stand by our decision because we see intrinsic value in widening our readers’ understanding of the foodways of the Middle East and expanding the chorus of voices we empower to tell that story."

We condemn Food & Wine Magazine for their blatant disregard for Jewish lives and for Lewis' reducing Rasmea Odeh to only a "divisive figure." We doubt the families of Leon and Eddie, who lost their young sons to Odeh's senseless violence, would agree that she is only "divisive."

Please sign this petition  to request that Food & Wine retract their endorsement of Reem's California and apologize for condoning the glorification of a convicted terrorist. Food & Wine Magazine should be ashamed of what is ultimately support of violence against Jews and Israelis.

You can also send an email voicing your concerns to:

Editor-in-Chief Hunter Lewis at hunter.lewis@foodandwine.com

Copy Restaurant Editor Jordana Rothman at jordana.rothman@foodandwine.com

Assistant to the CEO of the Meredith Corporation (which owns Food & Wine) Toni Crosby at toni.crosby@meredith.com