Newsweek Downplays Philadelphia Restaurant Pogrom

In, “Philadelphia Jewish Restaurant Targeted With ‘Genocide’ Chants’’ (12/4/23), there was more than “targeting” as Newsweek claims; it was an intimidating mob committing a hate crime — still illegal in the United States — even if against Jews.

According to the article, “footage emerged of a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathering outside Goldie on midtown Sansom Street who were chanting “Goldie, Goldie you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.” This doesn’t sound like a “chant” but a call for a lynching! And the “demonstrators” weren’t “gathering;” they were impeding and threatening at the entrance.

In the aftermath, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro tweeted “Tonight in Philly, we saw a blatant act of antisemitism — not a peaceful protest. A restaurant was targeted and mobbed because its owner is Jewish and Israeli. This hate and bigotry is reminiscent of a dark time in history.”

Since Israel responded to the unprovoked October 7 Hamas slaughter of Jewish men, women, children, toddlers and babies,” there have been pro-Palestinian demonstrations around the world, including on many US college campuses. In some cases, these have spilled over into expressions of support for Hamas’ actions and overt antisemitic threats,” according to Newsweek.

Interestingly, at different points in the article to describe the hate crime at the Jewish-owned restaurant, Newsweek felt the need to identify Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and David Frum, a political commentator, as Jewish — as if that was a clarifying factor in their outrage. Why not say they are human — it would have covered the only context readers need!!

Representative of a society gone sick, hate crimes have been greater in the US against members of the Jewish faith for years, greater than against all other religious groups combined, despite their diminutive 2% of America’s population. Over 50% of religious-based US hate-crimes were against Jews in 2022, and that was before Hamas launched the current war in October. (Community Relations Service | 2022 FBI Hate Crimes Statistics (justice.gov)

It’s hard not to make comparisons to what’s going on today in America to the attacks of the Nazis and their sympathizers against Jewish-owned businesses in Germany in the 1930s. We all just thought America was better than that.