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Jewish restaurant owners in Philadelphia are facing calls for their businesses to leave the city, as anti-Israel activists plan a boycott on the eve of the anniversary of a major Nazi attack on Jews.
The protest, planned for Sunday 8 November, will see cyclists ride through the city’s Rittenhouse Square area, targeting six restaurants and food businesses with Jewish owners or links to Israel.
Organisers have shared a poster naming Mac Mart, K’Far Cafe, Huda Burger, Goldie, Dizengoff and Schlesinger’s, with red crosses over their names.
“No business for zionists! These zionist establishments must go! Not in our city!” the poster reads.
The timing has caused particular anger because the protest falls a day before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, when Nazis attacked Jewish homes, shops and synagogues across Germany and Austria on 9 and 10 November 1938.
The demonstration is being organised by three anti-Israel groups: Philly Bike On Your Left, Boycott CookNSolo and Philly Solidarity Calendar.
In an Instagram post, organisers called on supporters to show the business owners “that we see them for the disgusting humans they are”.
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.
Yehuda Sichel, 40, owner of Huda Burger and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, said the boycott reminded him of what his family had endured.
“As a Jewish business owner and grandson of Holocaust survivors, boycotts of Jewish businesses are very familiar to me, and not in a good way, especially on the eve of Kristallnacht,” he told the New York Post.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday condemned the planned boycott as “deeply unsettling”, saying Jewish business owners were being blamed for the actions of the Israeli government.
“This is not simply a protest directed at the policies of Israel, rather it singles out our fellow Pennsylvanians based on their Jewish identity,” he wrote on X.
Local politician Ben Waxman, who represents the area where the protest is planned, said restaurant owners should not be held responsible for decisions made by politicians overseas.
“People have every right to criticise the Israeli government and to protest US foreign policy. But those decisions are made in Washington, not in the kitchens of Centre City restaurants,” he said.
“Holding your Jewish neighbours responsible for a foreign government’s actions is antisemitism.”
Anti-Defamation League chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt described the protest as “absolutely vile”.
“This is antisemitism disguised as activism. It is Jew-hatred, plain and simple, and it should outrage every person of conscience,” he wrote on X.
Four Jewish organisations, including the Anti-Defamation League Philadelphia and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, have also condemned the plans and urged local authorities to protect the businesses.
In response, local residents are organising a food crawl on Sunday, encouraging people to visit the six targeted businesses instead of joining the boycott.
The event will begin at Huda at 11.30am, the same time as the planned bicycle protest.
“The outpouring of support from the Jewish community has been incredible, and we’re truly grateful,” Sichel told Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).
“We won’t cower,” he added.
Lieberman, whose business is normally closed on Sundays, said she would open especially for the event to thank those who had supported her.
“We’re going to make as much food as we possibly can on Sunday and do what we’ve always loved doing – feed people,” she told JNS.
Philadelphia police confirmed they were aware of the planned protest and were in contact with members of the community.
“While we cannot discuss specific operational or deployment details, our priority is to ensure the safety of everyone involved, as well as the general public,” a police spokesperson said.
Kristallnacht, known as the Night of Broken Glass, saw Nazi-led mobs smash Jewish shop windows, burn synagogues and attack Jewish families in November 1938. At least 91 Jews were murdered, and around 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
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