Credit: PA Internet News Service
During an event in Lower Bucks County on Monday, Gov. Josh Shapiro condemned what he described as “blatant antisemitism.”
Responding to a reporter’s question, Shapiro, who is Jewish, criticized a mob’s behavior towards an Israeli-born restaurateur in Philadelphia on Sunday evening.
“What we saw last night was not peaceful protest. What we saw last night, in my opinion, was blatant antisemitism. It was beyond peacefully protesting some policy difference in the Middle East,” Shapiro said.
Reports and social media indicate that pro-Palestine protesters in Center City shouted antisemitic slurs and affixed pro-Palestinian stickers to a restaurant’s doors.
Shapiro specifically referred to the targeting of Goldie’s, a falafel restaurant owned by Michael Solomonov, as antisemitic.
The governor stated the protest aimed to harass Solomonov solely because of his Israeli identity.
“It’s antisemitism, plain and simple. It harkens back to a dark time in our history. It evokes memories of Kristallnacht in 1930s Germany, and it has no place in this nation on the streets of Philadelphia,” Shapiro told reporters during a ceremonial bill signing in Yardley Borough.
The governor emphasized the importance of education in understanding historical contexts, like the events of the 1930s in Germany, to ensure peaceful and respectful discussions.
Shapiro stated his commitment to calling out antisemitism wherever he encounters it.
