Guardian journalist ‘sickened’ after column rationalises attacks on Jewish-founded bakery

A Guardian journalist has said they feel “extremely uncomfortable” working for the newspaper after it published a column suggesting the presence of a branch of Gail’s bakery near a Palestinian café “feels like an act of heavy-handed high-street aggression”.

The piece, by Jonathan Liew, headlined A corner of north London where food has become a battleground in the Israel-Gaza war, appears to rationalise attacks on the Archway branch of the Jewish-founded bakery chain in recent weeks. Liew wrote: “Even though Gail’s describes itself as “a British business with no specific connections to any country or government outside the UK”, its very presence 20 metres away from a small independent Palestinian cafe feels quietly symbolic, an act of heavy-handed high-street aggression.”

The Archway branch has been repeatedly vandalised, with its windows smashed and paint daubed on the walls. Police have increased patrols in the area and are investigating the incidents as criminal damage. No arrests have been made.

In his piece, Liew also writes: “Palestinian activism has arguably never been less capable of exerting a meaningful influence on global events, and so is increasingly defined by small acts of petty symbolism. A smashed window. A provocative sticker … You can’t lay a glove on the US-Israeli military-industrial complex … so some people then direct their ire at the bakery.”

One Guardian journalist told Jewish News: “This column is encouraging violence and hatred. I cannot understand why it is being allowed to stay online. I feel absolutely sickened.”

The journalist emphasised they were not the only one at the Guardian to feel deeply uncomfortable at the decision to publish Liew’s column.

A Guardian spokesperson told Jewish News: “Complaints about Guardian journalism are considered by the internally independent readers’ editor under the Guardian’s editorial code and guidance.”