A new Palestinian restaurant in New York City has sparked backlash after opening its doors to customers with menus including the anti-Semitic phrase ‘from the river to the sea.’
Ayat, a Brooklyn eatery with two other locations in the city, also opted to emblazon the front of its menus with the phrase ‘down with the occupation.’ This angered some patrons in the heavily-Jewish area.
When the restaurant opened a third location in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, last week, a Facebook group for residents in the area grew hostile. The customers slammed the menus as ‘openly genocidal,’ reports the Daily Beast.
The chant ‘from the river to the sea’ has been deemed by the Anti-Defamation League to be an anti-Semitic call for ‘Israel’s destruction through violent means.’
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Responding to the disapproval of the Facebook group, Ayat Masoud and her husband Abdul Elenani, the restaurant’s owners, insisted the phrase’s inclusion in their menus was misunderstood.
In his Facebook response, Elenani said they decided to include ‘from the river to the sea’ in the menus.
He also explained that their interpretation of this phrase symbolizes the freedom and rights of the Palestinian people between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
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“We’re simply opposed to the Zionist mentality of, like, eliminate or flatten now,” he said. He added that he harbors no ill-will toward Jewish people, emphasizing that their neighbors, friends, and colleagues are Jewish, and they work with Jewish individuals every day.
He continued further, “We do not harbor hatred towards Jewish people. Quite the opposite. Judaism and Islam they are the two most similar religions.”
The layout of the restaurant doesn’t hide its affiliation with Palestine. It includes several Palestinian flags and depictions of people wearing traditional Palestinian clothing.
Images from inside one of the restaurants reveal what seems to be Palestinian children imprisoned behind bars beneath the golden dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem. They are shown being guarded by Israeli soldiers.
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The owner further added that he had two key elements to his ‘brand’: ‘Number one is that I will always mention the occupation of the Palestinian people. And number two is that we will always advocate for peace.’
However, many have condemned the restaurant’s decision to take such a public stance. They feel the establishment was intentionally trying to provoke a reaction from customers.
Ditmas Park resident Dahlia Scheitzer expressed skepticism about the business’s claim that they are advocating for freedom. She stated, “They’re poking the hornet’s nest, and they know what they are doing.”
The hostile reaction in the area mirrors much of the turmoil in the US since the crisis in the Middle East erupted on October 7. Businesses have been targeted and ‘review bombed’ for making a comment, or avoiding making one, on the conflict.
However, Ayat was one of those businesses targeted by infuriated customers. In the days following the Hamas attack that killed over 1,200, the owners told the New York Times at the time that they were flooded with one-star reviews online.
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