An employee at a Los Angeles Staples on Wilshire Boulevard refused to print a Black Jewish woman’s postcards with phrases “Black Jewish Zionist Squad” and “Jewish Joy” on April 7, according to video posted to social media that has gone viral.
The video shows an employee, wearing a name badge that says “Ryatt,” saying that “we are not able to print anything that has any racist messages,” specifying that he found the “Zionist” postcard to be racist. The woman, Elisheva Rishon, who recorded and posted video of the April 7 encounter on Instagram in a story titled “staples incident,” countered that Zionism is not racism and that she is Black. Ryatt replied that he too is Black and that he’s also an Arab, “so I do understand the definition of Zionism.” Rishon replied that she has a different definition of Zionism and that the card she wanted printed “clearly stated that it’s for Black Jewish Zionist.”
“Judaism does not equal Zionism,” Ryatt replied. Rishon asked him if he’s Jewish, to which Ryatt replied that his grandfather’s Jewish. Rishon proceeded to ask him what his definition of Zionism is; Ryatt replied that it’s “not really the point.” Rishon countered that it is the point because Ryatt’s definition that Zionism is racism “doesn’t make any sense.” She explained that to her, Zionism “means the yearning to return to a homeland for over 2,000 years.” Ryatt then asks, “Does that mean the extermination of …” prompting Rishon to interject: “Did I say that?” Ryatt replied that Rishon’s definition of Zionism may not fit the definition of “the masses,” prompting Rishon to counter that she doesn’t know “anyone who talks about extermination.” Ryatt then cited the actions of the “current Zionistic regime,” prompting Rishon to ask him if he was talking about a government, to which Ryatt said he was talking about “an ideology.” Rishon told Ryatt, “you have your own interpretation of a religion you don’t belong to that you made up in your head.”
A manager wearing a name badge that says “Cynthia” later came to talk to Rishon; Rishon said that Ryatt is also refusing to print her “Jewish Joy” postcard and accused him of being antisemitic, prompting Ryatt to shake his head and reply that he’s just anti-Zionist. Eventually, Cynthia tells Rishon that “we’re done,” and another customer angrily tells Rishon: “Nobody wants to deal with you. There is way too much going on in the world right now to act like that with employees who are just trying to do their job. You need to get out of here.” Rishon then asked the man if he knew what happened, to which the man replied: “No. I don’t care because I don’t want to hear you yell … Leave them alone and shut the f— up.” The man added: “There are a lot of people here that need service. Fix your wig and get the hell out of here.”
🚨 STAPLES EMPLOYEES REFUSE SERVICE TO BLACK JEWISH WOMAN IN LOS ANGELES 🚨
📍 A woman walked into a Staples in L.A. to print postcards celebrating Jewish joy—and was denied service by staff who claimed the message was “racist.”
🛑 Printing messages of joy and Jewish pride =… pic.twitter.com/dxswyom0P8
— Jew Hate Database (@jewhatedb) April 8, 2025
Purported video of Ryatt after the incident shows him saying that he is “shaken up” by what happened and that “my job has a policy against any type of racist messaging, which Zionism holds lots of racist ideologies towards Arab people and Islamophobic ideologies towards anyone who practices Islam.” Ryatt then claimed that Rishon asked him if he’s a Muslim — which Ryatt claimed his response was that it’s none of her business — and also asked him if he’s Jewish, and Ryatt replied that his grandfather was. “I know that my grandfather, rest his soul, would not have stood for this,” Ryatt added. “…no real Jewish people who understands Judaism as what it is would have stood for this … this woman was just here to argue.”
Ryatt then claimed that he didn’t even look at Rishon’s “Jewish Joy” card. “I 1,000% believe that Judaism, true Judaism, should be celebrated, not Zionism,” he said. “I told her a million times, Judaism does not equate to Zionism. It is untrue, it is just folklore, it is a farce, to try and equate the two … she wanted to focus on the fact that I didn’t print out the second cards that I didn’t really care to look at because I was just hit in the face with Zionistic messages and wanted to call me an antisemite.” Ryatt said that he told Rishon that “I am a semite, I’m Arab and I’m Black.”
He alleged that Rishon argued with his manager about a half hour, and that seven people were behind her in line and “rolling their eyes” at the situation. Ryatt lauded the customer who angrily told her to “shut the f— up” since at that point the incident ended. Ryatt further claimed that at that point, he offered to print Rishon’s “Jewish Joy” cards for free, but Rishon refused to take him up on it. “She wanted to just keep arguing, keep filming and calling me an antisemite … it’s just so performative,” Ryatt said. He concluded the video by stating: “Free motherf—ing Palestine forever.”
Los Angeles – Staples Store #1967 on Wilshire. Meet Ryatt and his manager Cynthia, who refused to print materials for Eli of Eli 7 Designs, a Black and Jewish Zionista.
Despite confirming the order was ready, Ryatt caused a scene when Eli arrived saying he would not complete… pic.twitter.com/DY9j8KAxIT
— SDS (@stopdontshoporg) April 8, 2025
Rishon claimed in her “staples incident” Instagram story that Ryatt had told her to come into the store to pick up the order, and that he was lying in his video when he claimed she was being aggressive toward him.
We will not tolerate this outrage, and we will not let this clear violation of anti-discrimination law slip by without consequence. Staples is responsible for the reprehensible conduct of its employees, full stop.” – Gerard Filitti
Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at The Lawfare Project, posted on X on April 8 that the video of Rishon being denied service at Staples showed “blatant antisemitic discrimination” and that he would be “meeting with @LawfareProject’s new client. We will not tolerate this outrage, and we will not let this clear violation of anti-discrimination law slip by without consequence. Staples is responsible for the reprehensible conduct of its employees, full stop. At a minimum, their immediate termination is warranted.”
Blatant antisemitic discrimination caught on tape.
A proud Black, Jewish woman was denied service at a @StaplesStores in Los Angeles by store employees who could not stomach printing a card about Jewish Joy.
Watch the video to see unadulterated Jew-hatred, then stay tuned for… https://t.co/iEe2M0OOj7
— Gerard Filitti (@GerardFilitti) April 9, 2025
A spokesperson for Staples told The Journal, “Staples is aware of the recent interaction between a customer and associates at one of our stores in Los Angeles, California. Staples is currently investigating the circumstances involving this interaction. Staples remains committed to serving all customers, and we continue to work hard to ensure respectful and professional interactions in all situations.”
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