Blue Stripes is a really nice cafe, not far from New York and New School universities. Until October 7, it was the favorite place for students in the area, but since the Israeli flag was placed in the shop window of the cafe, calls to boycott it have been distributed on social networks and nearby universities. Many students listened to the boycott and avoid coming to the place. You already know what to do
This is not the first time that the Blue Stripes cafe, founded by Oded Brenner and Landwehr, has come under fire. During the riots that broke out following the murder of George Floyd, the cafe was broken into and its contents looted. The place was closed and later, its management was transferred to Alon Kazdan, and then the war in Gaza broke out. Kazdan waved the Israeli flag in the shop window in an almost demonstrative manner which caused Israel haters to come out against him.
From time to time, protesters entered the cafe and soon, it entered the list of Israeli cafes and restaurants that the organizers of protests against Israel are calling to boycott on social media. About two months later, it was decided to take the flag down from the front and in the end – it was hung on the back wall of the cafe. But the boycott did not stop.
Israeli cafe and restaurant owners generally try to keep a low profile, but many places find themselves on social media blacklists, and as convenient targets for protests and boycotts.
The restaurants Hummus Kitchen and Ghazala, for example, also became an immediate target for the protestors who not only boycotted but also sprayed hateful graffiti and physically damaged the place.
Eliad Ben Ari, a real estate broker who also helps Israelis with relocation, says that he holds many of his work meetings at Blue Stripes. “Sometimes I come here three times a day.”
Marina Kagan who lives in Staten Island, an engineer by profession, originally from Russia, knew that she had to make the journey from Staten Island to the cafe, to show her solidarity. She says – “There is so much hatred in American high schools and colleges that I thought it would be right to come to express support specifically for the Israeli businesses in the area of the universities. I have family in Ashdod and I am very worried about what is happening around the war and the outbreak of anti-Semitism in the United States.”
Ted Penskowski, manager of a plumbing company from New Jersey, comes to town a lot and decided to come to the cafe after hearing in an anti-anti-Semitism group on Facebook that there was a boycott of the cafe. He says. “I didn’t think we would reach such a situation in the United States. My grandparents are Holocaust survivors. Anti-Semitism has reached the United States. Coming here is the least I can do.”
