Hundreds turn out to counter bike ride targeting Israeli and Jewish owned restaurants in Philadelphia
In a show of solidarity, people queued for hours in order to buy food from the six eateries in question
A planned ‘anti-Zionist’ bike ride protest in Philadelphia against a number of Jewish owned restaurants was met by hundreds of counter-protestors, vastly outnumbering those who sought to intimidate them.
The original protest, planned by a group called ‘Philly Bike On Your Left’, had called for a “boycott ride” against six eateries in the Rittenhouse Square neighbourhood of Philadelphia. “No business for Zionists!” a leaflet published by the group stated. “These Zionist establishments must go!” Further social media comments by the group called on people to “ride around Rittenhouse with us as we show these zio business owners that we see them for the disgusting humans they are”.
The epithet “Zio” was popularised by the far right former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, but has been adopted by much of the far left pro-Palestinian movement in the last few years.
The protest was held on Sunday, the day before the 88th anniversary of “Kristallnacht”, Night of the Broken Glass, when thousands of Jewish shops in Germany were ransacked by the Nazis.
The six restaurants targeted by ‘Philly Bike On Your Left’ included both Israeli eateries and Jewish-owned businesses. Mac Mart, whose co-owner, Marti Lieberman, 37, co-owner of Mac Mart, told the New York Post she was frightened to learn her business had been targeted.
“You can’t get a break, and now I have to worry about being born Jewish,” she said.
Lieberman said her business had nothing to do with Israel or Judaism and suspected she had been singled out because she openly wears a Star of David necklace.
“These people think I’m (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. I literally am just a Jewish girl from the suburbs who started a business,” she added.
On Sunday, there were queues around the block by people seeking to show support for the six establishments in question.
Michael Balaban, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, told local news channel WPVI that “when people come to attack the Jewish community, we want to meet those attacks tenfold, a hundredfold with people.
“Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love and we want to make sure it stays that way and get the haters out of here….Don’t protest us because we’re Jewish.”
Pennsylvania lawmakers had strongly condemned the bike-ride. The state’s Jewish Governor, Josh Shapiro, described it as “designed to intimidate and drive Jewish businesses out of our communities”, subsequently referring to it as the “blatant antisemitic targeting of Jewish-owned restaurants”, while the Mayor of Philadelphia, Cherelle Parker, said that people had the right to peaceful protest, “singling out businesses because their owners are Jewish is unacceptable and has no place in our city.”
Outspoken Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman described the “boycott ride” as “the Left’s pro-Hamas, Jew-hating, BDS assholes-on-wheels.”
Videos taken on Sunday showed many of the bike riders unable to cycle due to the number of counter-protestors, while people queued for hours in order to purchase food from the six restaurants the riders were attempting to target.
The Philadelphia branch of the Anti Defamation League described it as “a powerful day,
“We were proud to join hundreds of Philadelphians standing with Jewish and Israeli-owned businesses in the face of intimidation.
“We appreciate @PhillyPolice‘s commitment to securing our community.”
The ‘Philly Bike On Your Left’ subsequently claimed that its protest had been “grossly misrepresented”, saying it was “firmly against racism and oppression of all forms, including fascism, antisemitism, islamophobia, and colonialism.”