White House officials on Monday denounced a pro-Palestinian demonstration at a Jewish-owned restaurant in Philadelphia in which the protesters chanted accusations of genocide. Axios reports video shows demonstrators outside Goldie beating drums and waving Palestinian flags while chanting—including through a loudspeaker—chant: "Goldie, Goldie you can't hide! We charge you with genocide!" The restaurant's parent company is co-owned by Michael Solomonov, who was born in Israel and is Jewish.
"It is Antisemitic and completely unjustifiable to target restaurants that serve Israeli food over disagreements with Israeli policy," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement, per the Hill, adding, "This behavior reveals the kind of cruel and senseless double standard that is a calling card of Antisemitism." Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, also denounced the demonstration in a post on X. "A restaurant was targeted and mobbed because its owner is Jewish and Israeli," Shapiro wrote. "This hate and bigotry is reminiscent of a dark time in history."
The demonstration was part of a march by pro-Palestinian protesters through Center City and University City, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. Solomonov, one of the top chefs in the country, had announced when the Israel-Hamas war began in October that he was making a donation to a nonprofit emergency medical service in Israel, per the New York Times. He owns other restaurants that serve Israeli food in the city, and the Philly Palestine Coalition has called a boycott of many of his businesses. Solomonov declined to comment on Sunday's demonstration. The line for lunch Monday at Goldie, per the AP, was out the door. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
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