A newly opened Palestinian restaurant in Brooklyn has sparked outrage with its menu including the antisemitic phrase “From the river to the sea” – with locals slamming the owner for “openly genocidal destruction.”
Owners ayat Abdul Elenani and Ayat Masoud opened their third location earlier this month in Taman Ditmas, where the menu features the phrase, “From the river to the sea” to label its seafood section as well as a crying Palestinian woman with the words “Down with the occupation. .”
Residents have slammed the menu as “open massacre” on the community’s Facebook page, according to the Daily Beast.
But the owner has insisted that the inclusion of the phrase “From the river to the sea,” which the Anti-Defamation League says supports the elimination of the state of Israel, was misunderstood.
“Our interpretation of it is only freedom and rights for the Palestinian people between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea,” Elenani told the Daily Beast.
“We’re just against the Zionist mentality, like, ‘Eliminate or flatten Gaza now,'” he said, adding he meant no harm to Jews.
Abdul Elenani and Ayat Masoud recently opened their third restaurant location in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. verse.nyc / Instagram
“Our neighbors are Jewish, our friends are Jewish, we work with Jews all day every day,” Elenani continued.
“We don’t hate Jews. It is the opposite. Judaism and Islam, they are the two most similar religions.”
Elenani claims she tried to clarify her position on her Facebook page, but her comments were removed for being “explicitly political.”
He hopes to tell Ditmas Park residents that he has two important elements to his “brand.”
The seafood section of the menu features the phrase “From river to sea,” which has been interpreted as a call for the annihilation of the state of Israel. ayatnyc.com
“Number one is that I will always mention the occupation of the Palestinians. And number two is that we will always fight for peace.”
Inside his restaurant in Brooklyn, Palestinian flags cover the walls along with photographs of people in traditional Palestinian dress.
A mural also appeared to show Palestinian children behind bars under the golden dome of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and Israeli soldiers pointing a gun at a crying Palestinian woman.
The front of the Ayat menu also features a crying Palestinian woman with the phrase “Down with the occupation.” verse.nyc / Instagram
Resident Dahlia Schweitzer said with all these images, she feels “they’re poking at a hornet’s nest and they know what they’re doing” although the owner only claims “they’re just supporting freedom.
“Best analogy I can think of [of] is if a restaurant that has Southern food has a Confederate flag on their menu and tries to spin it as ‘Oh, it’s just Southern pride.’
“And it’s like, you know, ‘Don’t be shy.’”
Another resident said they felt the owner was “obviously trying to stir up” trouble, while Lisa Javaherikia said the owner “has the right to say what they want, and I have the right to go or not.”
The restaurant previously received numerous one-star complaints following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, including one saying: “I’m not sure which I find more offensive, the food or the map outside,” according to a shared screengrab. on the restaurant’s Instagram page.
Abdul Elenani said the restaurant has faced backlash since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. verse.nyc / Instagram
Elenani said they were able to get Google to remove more than 110 negative reviews in response and had to disconnect the restaurant’s phone after receiving “non-stop” threatening voicemails, according to Fortune.
“There’s always conflict,” he told NY1.
“But every time there’s a rebellion, it kind of brings a reminder that people have to have this need to fight each other.”
The owner of Ayat declined to comment to The Post Thursday.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
