Reem Assil Manipulates Yelp Reviews. Again.

They call it the Palestine Exception. Its the belief that being Palestinian enables you to use  your eternal victimhood as a  "get out of jail free" card to evade any moral or civic responsibility.  Reem Assil, proprietor of an Oakland bakery decorated with a mural of a convicted Jew-killer uses it like a master.  Faced with negative crowd-sourced reviews for her Oakland restaurant, Reem denounces them as "racist" targeting her "Arab owned business" and mobilized a response. 

Reports of dirty restrooms?    There are zionists afoot.

Small portions?  Only a zionist would complain.

Cold, bland food?  Only a jealous Zionist would make that claim.

The Palestine Exception means criticizing cold coffee is "racist", if its served in an Arab owned business. 

The Palestine exception means never having to take personal responsibility for your actions.  

 

David Jaber takes Reem's bait, and explains how to "drill down" and report the profiles

The Palestinian Exception means that Israel haters across the world have rushed to Reems defense, linked by their common hatred of the Zionist entity.   Emma Rosenthal freely admits she has never eaten in Reem's restaurant. yet posts a review, in violation of  Yelps' terms of agreement.  And yes, Emma Rosenthal calls unapologetic Jew Killer Rasmea Odeh,  "a hero"

Within days of the Reem initiated manipulation, many of the negative reviews had vanished from Yelp.  This form of blatant manipulation dilutes the Yelp brand, and makes all their reviews suspect. 

The way to win in Reem Assil's world is to Cry "Zionist" and let loose the dogs of war.

Reem's bakery in Fruitvale: Gaming the system on Yelp

From Berkeleyside, writing about Reem's, a new bakery in the  Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland:

Assil decidedly chooses to use “Arab” over “Middle Eastern” when describing her concept. “I wanted it to be political,” she said. “People are afraid of politics, but now more than ever people are asking. If my food can stir up a conversation — even if it’s a hard conversation — that’s what I want it to do. I welcome that in my space.”

Reem Assil 's commitment to open dialog  and conversation apparently is limited to those who agree with her.  On her Facebook page, she has urged her followers to rate down negative comments on Yelp, and to give her establishment positive reviews

Reem Assil, a  local anti-Israel activist and member of the extremist Arab Resource Organizing Center (AROC)  solicited her political connections to shut down complaints about her new bakery. Anti-Israel activists from as far away as Texas, many who have never set foot in the bakery were quick to leap to her defense, sharing notes on how to game the Yelp review process, and chortling over their success in shutting down negative reviews.

Let this be a cautionary tale to those who rely on Yelp reviews.  Apparently it is not difficult to trick the Yelp review algorithm.  And let this also serve as an example of how anti-Israel activists will stop at nothing in their ruthless attempt to shut down voices that challenge them-  even if the voices are simply complaining about burnt flatbread and surly service.