The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) San Francisco affiliate told the Journal in a statement via email that it’s “appalling and disturbing” that a Jewish café owner in San Francisco is being harassed for being pro-Israel.
Manny Yekutiel started Manny’s as a “community space” for people to discuss social justice with cheap coffee and food. But he’s being hounded by some far-left groups for running a “Zionist Gentrification café”:
Last night, Black and Brown Social Club, the Lucy Parsons Project, QUIT (Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism) and allied groups showed up to fight the Zionist-Gentrification cafe Manny's while white supremacist Zionists ate a meal in support of Manny's: pic.twitter.com/Ff7g8VhZcx
— LucyParsonsProject (@LucyParsonsProj) December 27, 2018
Protesters that have appeared at the café have broken a window as well as painted the words “F— Zionism” underneath a Star of David.
The Lucy Parsons Project also sent out a Dec. 5 email decrying Yekutiel’s “racist, Zionist, pro-Israel ideals.”
“We will not tolerate gentrifiers and Zionists attempts at invading and destroying our community through ‘woke-washing’!!” the email stated.
Among the quotes from Yekutiel that bothered the Lucy Parsons Project include “Happy 70th Birthday Israel!” and “I’m so proud of Israel and its people” on his Facebook page.
ADL San Francisco Regional Director Seth Brysk told the Journal, “It is appalling and disturbing that protestors are targeting Manny’s on the basis of Manny Yekutiel’s religion as well as his mere affirmation of the right under international law to Jewish self-determination, also known as Zionism.”
“Some have even resorted to anti-Semitic vandalism and personal harassment, disconnected from any mention of Israel,” Brysk said. “Anyone who values inclusion and dialogue, let alone peace and justice for Palestinians and Israelis, must reject the extreme bias and fringe assertions of the protestors.”
Yekutiel, who has previously interned for the Obama administration and volunteered for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, has said that while he supports Israel’s right to exist, he disagrees with numerous policies from its government, including how the Israeli government has handled the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
“Everyone visiting San Francisco should go to Manny’s Cafe and support Manny Yekutiel who is a proud Zionist,” Simon Wiesenthal Center Associate Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper told the Journal in a statement via email.
