“By stating that Zionists are not welcome to its store, this business is basically stating that Jewish people are not welcome,” said Rabbi Meyer May, Executive Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
‘’This is clear anti-Semitism, extremely discriminatory and unacceptable.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has slammed the use by a restaurant in Toronto of the hashtag “zionistsnotwelcome” on Twitter.
The Foodbenders eatery had already a history of social media posts considered anti-Semitic and aroused controversy after it put up a sign saying “f—k the police,” when a post last week on its Instagram account announced that it was now open to “non-racist shoppers,” adding the hashtags “freepalestine” and “zionistsnotwelcome.”
As a result of the incident, delivery services cut ties with the restaurant and Canadese politicians denounced the establishment.
“By stating that Zionists are not welcome to its store, this business is basically stating that Jewish people are not welcome,” said Rabbi Meyer May, Executive Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
‘’This is clear anti-Semitism, extremely discriminatory and unacceptable,” he added.
The owner of Foodbenders said that ‘’there is a distinction between Zionists and the Jewish people.’’Jews are welcome in my store,” he said on Instagram.
Hawkins adorned her store window with a large Palestinian flag in addition to the “I (heart) Palestine” sign that was already hung there, and covered her store’s sign with a banner reading “Free Palestine.”
Previous Foodbenders social media posts have said “police brutality is an Israeli export” and “Zionists are Nazis,” and included hashtags that appear to encourage violence in Israel such as #fromtherivertothesea and #intifada.
In a reaction, Toronto Mayor John Tory stated that ‘’there is no place for this type of hate or discrimination in our city or anywhere else in Canada. I stand with Toronto’s Jewish community in condemning this type of hate and intolerance and commit to continuing to build up our city as a place that is inclusive of everyone.”