LoudisGood

By Shira Lankin Sheps : This latest antisemitic nightmare is personal. Let me explain: A bicycle rally planned for November 8 in Philadelphia is targeting six local restaurants under the label “Zionist establishments.” The flyer says, “No business for Zionists! These Zionist establishments must go! Not in our city!” The businesses named include Israeli restaurants associated with chef Michael Solomonov, as well as American Jewish-owned businesses such as Mac Mart and Schlesinger’s Deli. Not all the owners of these establishments are Israeli. Some of them are American Jews. The only thing that ties these places together is that their owners are Jewish. There is a network of explicitly anti-Zionist activists, who are treating Israeli cultural visibility or Jewishness as a target for hatred. Let me say it again: American Jews who own neighborhood businesses are being told that their establishments must leave their city. The city of brotherly love. I was born in Philadelphia. I was visiting last week. I have a large family who live and work there, our roots go back several generations. My own grandfather was a baker, and had a Jewish bakery in Philadelphia. A city close to my heart, and honestly this story makes me sick. The date of the "bike rally" is disgusting. Nov 8. The day before the anniversary of Kristalnacht. You know, the night where the Nazis destroyed Jewish businesses and synagogues in Germany. Don't tell me the organizers of this disgusting event didn't choose that date on purpose. Of course they did. My grandmother on the other side of the family witnessed Kristalnacht with her own eyes- the night of the broken glass. When Jewish livelihoods were targeted and Jewish life in Germany shattered, never to recover. I grew up believing that America was a place where our family could build a life and belong. Now Jewish business owners in the city where I was born are being told they must go. I want their neighbors to answer. I want the people who eat at their tables, work beside them, and walk past their doors to make it clear that these families belong here. Jewish families should not have to be the only ones defending our place in America. When they tell Jews to leave, everyday Americans need to stand shoulder to shoulder with us. If they don't, America has a much bigger problem.