Patterico's Pontifications

6/21/2021

Israeli Food Truck Disinvited From Diversity Celebration Event Because of Rumored Threats, Organizers Cancel Event

Filed under: General — Dana @ 10:39 am



[guest post by Dana]

Here’s what happened:

Moshava Philly, a mobile Israeli food business, was supposed to participate in Taste of Home, billed as an “event celebrating diversity through food, art, entertainment, community,” presented by nonprofits Eat Up the Borders and Sunflower Philly.

On Saturday, Moshava posted on Instagram that the organizers told the food truck not to come because of rumors of a protest because of the Israeli business’ presence and that they opted to “uninvite us for fear that the protesters would get aggressive and threaten their event.”

With ongoing backlash, Sunflower Philly, one of the North Fifth Street event sponsors, announced Sunday on social media that the entire fair was canceled.

“Due to the ongoing situation with one of our events partners @eatuptheborders and @moshava_philly we have decided to cancel the ‘Taste of Home’ event,” said the group Facebook post.

Untitled

Yesterday, Eat Up the Borders said that they made a “mistake”:

“Our mistake this time, with not only our event partners, but in general was not educating ourselves. And not properly making sure that everyone is properly represented. So that’s where we made the decision to cancel the event,” Melvin Powell, the executive director of Sunflower Philly, told 6ABC.

According to NBC10, Powell said that at previous events, food trucks from both Israeli and Palestinian proprietors were present, and that an agreement had been made in the past that one truck would not be present without the other.

Powell said the Palestinian truck couldn’t attend, according to NBC10. “The fact that we couldn’t accurately represent both of them is the reason why we canceled the event today,” Powell said.

So, of course, this makes me ask: If it had been any truck other than the Israeli truck that was allegedly under threat, would the event have been cancelled, or would security have been beefed up and law enforcement notified? It seems to me if your organization has a mission/vision statement that reads: ​Our mission is to break down our everyday barriers through shared experienced through language, food, and culture. ​As the EUTB team, we are here to help promote small, family, or immigrant owned businesses within the Philadelphia area. Our goal is to bring exposure through interviews and events. The fear of trying something new is understandable, but we are here to help you welcome the community to your doorstep, then this situation presented a perfect opportunity to work hard with law enforcement and the community to overcome fear, and represent all Philadelphia food businesses, including Israeli ones.

Despite the disinvite and cancellation of the event, Moshava’s Facebook page extended the benefit of the doubt to Eat Up the Borders:

“We are actively working with both eatuptheborders and sunflowerphilly and will meet with representatives from both sides in the coming days to try and educate and grow together in a safe space for everyone,” read the post from Moshava, which was founded by Israeli chef Nir Sheynfeld. “Although we were disappointed with how the situation was greatly mishandled, we do not believe the organizers’ intention came from an anti-Semitic place, but the threats they were receiving to their event were.”

However, a Philadelphia State Representative was not having it:

In a statement released Sunday, State Rep. Jared Solomon, a resident of Northeast Philadelphia and a member of the Jewish community, called the decision to disinvite the Israeli truck to an event celebrating diversity “inexcusable and further promote division.”

Solomon urged the organizers to condemn the alleged threat and to “advocate the rights of all businesses, including Moshava.” He also said he “contacted law enforcement to discuss the situation.”

Nor was Philadelphia’s District 3 Senator Sharif Street:

“It was disheartening to hear organizers of “A Taste of Home” disinvite Moshava, an Israeli food company, from participating in Philadelphia’s annual celebration of cuisine.

Philadelphia is the nation’s first World Heritage City, a global distinction as a premier place to visit, live, do business and inspire pride in heritage.

The exclusion of Moshava undermines the spirit of Philadelphia and purpose of this event, a celebration of our cultural differences while uniting communities. Their removal due to threats of violence from others is absurd and has caused division. Given the steep rise in anti-Semitism, we must be vocal and frequent defenders of the Jewish community.

I’m just going to say that Jew-hate is popular right now. As Forbes reports, there has been an uptick in fear by American Jews after a spate of recent attacks targeting Jewish people:

The survey of nearly 600 Jewish Americans by the anti-hate group found 60% reported witnessing behavior or comments they personally deemed to be anti-Semitic following the violence.

That is roughly the share of American Jews who said in a January ADL survey they had experienced anti-Semitism in the prior five years.

Over half (53%) said the level of anti-Semitic behavior or conduct, which many respondents deemed encompasses verbal attacks on the state of Israel (like comparing Israel’s actions to Nazis or calling Zionism racist), surpasses what they witnessed before the Israel-Gaza fighting began.

As a result of their observed uptick in anti-Semitism, some 40% of the Jewish Americans surveyed indicated they are “more concerned about their personal safety.”

A vast majority (77%) said they are at least somewhat concerned about anti-Semitism in America following the recent violence, while most also want federal and state leaders to do more to address the recent uptick in anti-Semitism.

305. That’s how many anti-Semitic incidents the ADL recorded in May 2021, a 115% increase from the same period last year. This included 190 cases of harassment, 50 cases of vandalism and 11 assaults.

And from the ADL CEO:

“This activity has affected more than specific individuals targeted: American Jews broadly are feeling less secure than before, and they believe strongly that our leaders need to do more to prevent further incidents,” he said in a statement.

Interestingly:

Many of the most recent incidents, by contrast, have come from perpetrators expressing support for the Palestinian cause and criticism of Israel’s right-wing government.

“This is why Jews feel so terrified in this moment,” Mr. Greenblatt said, observing that there are currents of anti-Semitism flowing from both the left and the right. “For four years it seemed to be stimulated from the political right, with devastating consequences.” But at the scenes of the most recent attacks, he noted, “no one is wearing MAGA hats.”

As it stands, members of the Jewish community are wondering, is it time to leave:

For some Jews, the last few weeks have accelerated a sense of unease that has been percolating for years.

“We’ve all read about what Jewish life was like in Europe before the Holocaust,” said Danny Groner, a member of an Orthodox synagogue in the Bronx. “There’s always this question: Why didn’t they leave? The conversation in my circles is, are we at that point right now?

–Dana

36 Responses to “Israeli Food Truck Disinvited From Diversity Celebration Event Because of Rumored Threats, Organizers Cancel Event”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (fd537d)

  2. A commitment to diversity means nothing unless you encounter resistance, and defy it.

    Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c)

  3. Philadelphia is the nation’s first World Heritage City, a global distinction as a premier place to visit, live, do business and inspire pride in heritage.

    You gotta be kidding. I can think of a dozen cities better suited for this “honor,” which is meaningless anyway.

    Rip Murdock (2975ef)

  4. Ironic, that the fair’s organizers refused to accept an Israeli food truck’s right to exist at a festival to honor “diversity”, opting for a “one food truck solution”, with said food truck being Palestinian. Hamas couldn’t run this thing better.

    Paul Montagu (5de684)

  5. They were diversified out.
    Happens a lot these days

    steveg (ebe7c1)

  6. Israeli food is all culinarily appropriated from Palestinian food anyway.

    Hoi Polloi (ade50d)

  7. Israeli Food Truck Disinvited From Diversity Celebration Event Because of Rumored Threats, Organizers Cancel Event

    That doesn’t seem very Kosher, does it. 😉

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  8. The left is returning the favor of the hollywood black lists and the banning of leftists like ward churchill. Both bill maher and phil donahue along with many others have felt the wrath of the banners. What goes around comes around. Its your turn on the right. Have fun.

    asset (5dde36)

  9. The left is returning the favor of the hollywood black lists and the banning of leftists like ward churchill.

    Of course Ward Churchill wasn’t “banned” because he was a leftist (or else the University of Colorado wouldn’t really have any faculty at all), he was banned because he is a liar, fraud, plagiarist, bully, and all around kook. But as is their wont, the radical left cheers on these attributes and turns him into a martyr.

    JVW (ee64e4)

  10. I think this ended the way it ought to have ended: the organizers let the activists know that by trying to single out a particular participant and run them out of the festival for political beliefs, it ultimately led to the cancellation of the entire festival. That needs to be the message to the community going forward: You want to have this celebration of diversity festival in the future? Then stand up against obnoxious activists who try to cancel the participants with whom they disagree politically. You either get all of the food trucks or none of the food trucks; the choice is yours.

    JVW (ee64e4)

  11. Does Israel or the Palestinians really believe in the two-truck solution?

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  12. I think this ended the way it ought to have ended: the organizers let the activists know that by trying to single out a particular participant and run them out of the festival for political beliefs, it ultimately led to the cancellation of the entire festival.

    I disagree that that’s the way it should end. It’s obviously better than singling out the Israeli truck, but ideally the event would go on with beefed up security and no one excluded. This result is a partial victory for the thugs. They may not have gotten away with punishing only the Israelis, but they successfully delivered their chilling message that those who associate with Israelis do so at their peril.

    Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame the organizers for calling the whole thing off. Though I might wish they’d taken a firmer stand against such a censorious threat, I don’t blame them for making what I assume was a considered business decision. But the result does illustrate the bullying power of a heckler’s veto.

    lurker (59504c)

  13. I disagree that that’s the way it should end. It’s obviously better than singling out the Israeli truck, but ideally the event would go on with beefed up security and no one excluded.

    I don’t disagree with any of your assessment, but I do like the idea quite frankly that the whole community loses out on this event because none of them stood up to these hectoring and censoring bullies until it was far too late. This is the way that it ought to be. If hipsters in progressive cities don’t immediately speak out against this sort of thing then, frankly, they don’t deserve to have these events. Yes, it’s the fault of the organizers for initially cowing to the mob and not instead pressing through with heightened security, and even though they tried to make amends in the end it is, to me, totally appropriate that everyone be made to suffer in this mess. Maybe next time the cowardly hipsters’ first inclination will be to fight back — not surrender — when the woke mob tries to impose its ugly will on a community event.

    JVW (ee64e4)

  14. I don’t disagree that a thumb in the eye of woke appeasers has some value. Just not enough IMO to offset the cost of validating the power of censorious thugs.

    lurker (59504c)

  15. This reminds me of the time that we had to cancel the block party because Mr. Sullivan refused to come with Paco, his Portuguese Water Dog, if Mrs. Henderson came with Fluffy, her white Samoyed. M-e-a-n b!tch that Fluffy, everybody knew that, but we all suspected there had to be more to the grudge.

    nk (1d9030)

  16. For some reason I think there should be a riot that targets CVS and whole foods.
    Whole foods has a better whiskey selection, but CVS has larger individual servings.
    Then we move on to electronics

    At some point we need to hit a furniture store too.
    Maybe if a black person is accidentally shot when the Chigago Police descend on black neighborhoods looking for the PR killers… that might be a good time to upgrade the living room

    steveg (ebe7c1)

  17. asset (5dde36) — 6/21/2021 @ 12:44 pm

    What goes around comes around. Its your turn on the right. Have fun.

    The left is getting revenge on the right by attacking Jews and getting an “event celebrating diversity through food, art, entertainment, community,” canceled? How’s that work exactly?

    frosty (f27e97)

  18. Watching the rise of attacks on Jews and all the hate online is very frustrating for me. I want to do something to fight against it. I don’t know what I can do. I have felt safe where I live but perhaps it’s a false sense of security. On and off over the years I’ve debated about owning a gun. I’m having that debate again. I have thought about leaving the US too. Where can a Jew go to live in this world and feel safe? Perhaps Israel is the place I should be. Not exactly safe either but when I visited Israel I did feel connected to the place.

    Mattsky (55d339)

  19. Maybe Facebook and Twitter could do a mass banning. Assuming they’d have any workers left.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  20. OT: Congratulations California taxpayers. You will be paying off all those Democrat voter’s back rent! Bet you didn’t see that coming!

    California Has a Plan to Pay the Back Rent for Low-Income Tenants. All of It.

    SAN FRANCISCO — Swimming in cash from an unexpected budget surplus and federal stimulus money, California is planning rent forgiveness on a scale never seen before in the United States.

    A $5.2 billion program in final negotiations at the State Legislature would pay 100 percent of unpaid rent that lower-income Californians incurred during the pandemic and would be financed entirely by federal money. The state is also proposing to set aside $2 billion to pay for unpaid water and electricity bills.

    When California became the first state to shut down its economy last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom predicted dire shortfalls in the state’s budget. But a year later, the state finds itself with so much money that it is poised to not only cover 100 percent of unpaid rent for low-income tenants, but also to give an additional $12 billion back to taxpayers, by sending state stimulus checks of at least $600 to millions of middle-class Californians.

    The state’s separate rental relief program would be available to residents who earn no more than 80 percent of the median income in their area and who can show pandemic-related financial hardship. In San Francisco, a family of four would have to earn less than $146,350 to qualify.

    I see this story a lot of places. Except not in the L.A. Times.

    Schmucks.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  21. Just think about all those folks who paid their rent as they were supposed to. Double schmucks.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  22. @17 history is mostly a chain saw not a scalpel.

    asset (187fae)

  23. Just think about all those folks who paid their rent as they were supposed to. Double schmucks.

    Me, personally, I can’t help but think of them. I see them passing by every day. And they better have paid their rent like they were supposed to. If they don’t want their next lease to be in the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go, looking for the places only they would know.

    nk (1d9030)

  24. Kevin M (ab1c11) — 6/21/2021 @ 11:25 pm

    Not just CA taxpayers

    would be financed entirely by federal money

    Your welcome ya bunch of thieves.

    frosty (f27e97)

  25. Marx thought “proletariat” was a cute way to describe the people whose only wealth was their children (proles in Latin). But this is America 2021, not London 1840. We have a “suffragiariat” (from the Latin suffragium, vote).

    nk (1d9030)

  26. Another government policy (eviction moratorium) designed to increase homelessness.

    Rip Murdock (2975ef)

  27. For four years it seemed to be stimulated from the political right

    The people on “the political right” perpetuating violence are only different from those on the left by a small degree. Both groups elevate the group over the individual, the power of the state, and different “rights” for the in-group vs the out-group. Both groups are driven by group-based grievances. Both groups are just denominations of the same political philosophy. The difference is just some implementation details and the sorting algorithm.

    frosty (f27e97)

  28. @23: Most Californians have squandered their resistance for a pocketful of mumbles. Such are promises.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  29. Another government policy (eviction moratorium) designed to increase homelessness.

    But they will fix it with another government program. And they will extend the moratorium, too, possibly cementing free rent into the progressive landscape.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  30. Boot them out.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  31. I’m sure than eviction for non-payment of rent will be labeled “discrimination”, if not “racist.”

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  32. Kevin M (ab1c11) — 6/22/2021 @ 11:21 am

    CA has a struggling weed industry and wants to give them $100M. In fairness, I don’t think they are the only state where this will be a problem but if that doesn’t wake up some people to the reality of government programs I don’t think anything will.

    frosty (f27e97)

  33. I’ve done some work for an organic grower out to the west between Lompoc and Buellton. They are doing very well. I heard from the lead grow operations manager that they sell a crop for $70M (less than 20 Acres worth) and get 4 crop cycles per year. Beats the hell out of strawberries. If they have a problem they throw money at anyone who can solve it quickly and keep them running. Google Earth the Santa Ynez River Valley going west from Buellton towards the ocean and look for the white hoop houses.
    I think it is the dispensaries that are struggling…. probably due to rent taxes, fees, regulations, or they are struggling because they are selling black market weed and skimming and showing losses or very minor net profit. Maybe both.

    steveg (ebe7c1)

  34. The pot industry has a problem with taxes, as pot remains illegal nationally. AIUI, you cannot deduct expenses for illegal activity from your income.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  35. I would like to see that same tax “anti-loophole” applied to overseas expenses and depreciation by U.S. companies to income earned by them in the United States. They would get to deduct only that cost of doing business actually spent by them in the United States. Not for factories in China or Chinese payrolls, for example.

    (Maybe that’s already the case, I’m no tax expert, but for some reason, I can’t say why, I doubt it.)

    nk (1d9030)

  36. Kevin M (ab1c11) — 6/21/2021 @ 11:25 pm

    I look at it as the perfect time and way to buy continued loyalty. No need to call it reparations.

    felipe (484255)


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