Brooklyn Israeli restaurant vandalized with antisemitic graffiti
The Israeli restaurant, Miriam, in Brooklyn was vandalized over the weekend and defaced with anti-Israel messages.
The vandalism happened around 3 a.m., police said.
No arrests have been made at this time.
BROOKLYN - A long-standing Israeli restaurant in a Brooklyn neighborhood was vandalized and defaced with anti-Israel messages on Sunday, police said.
What we know
On Sunday, vandals spray-painted antisemitic graffiti on the outside of the Miriam restaurant in Park Slope.
The vandalism happened around 3 a.m., police said. When police arrived at the scene, they were informed that red paint had been thrown on the windows, with a statement made in red spray paint.
No arrests have been made at this time.
The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is currently investigating.
What we don't know
Right now, we don't know who spray-painted these messages outside the restaurant.
What they're saying
"Miriam Brooklyn Restaurant was sadly vandalized with messages of hate. But we refuse to let this darken our spirit. Miriam stands for inclusivity and unity and bringing people together through the shared love of delicious food and warm hospitality," the restaurant said in an Instagram post.
FOX 5 NY also spoke with the owner of the restaurant.
"It makes me sad, that people, instead of if they have a different opinion than mine, instead of coming and talking about it, they vandalize my restaurant," owner Rafael Hasid said.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams said he will not tolerate hateful acts and that the NYPD is investigating.
"As mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, I am particularly heartbroken by this evil act. Make no mistake, the NYPD is investigating and will find those responsible," Adams said in a post on X.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul condemned the incident as "outrageous and despicable," stressing that "antisemitism in Brooklyn is an attack on every New Yorker and contradicts our core values."
"To the owners and staff of Miriam: your state stands with you. And the perpetrators will be brought to justice," Hochul said in a post on X.
The Source
This article uses information from government officials' social media accounts and the NYPD.
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That's why wealthy individuals and corporations, for example, keep avoiding significant tax hikes despite the fact that higher taxes on millionaires are extremely popular among Americans. AIPAC seems keenly aware that Democratic voters' views on Israel are shifting fast, so much so that it has become even more aggressive in recent election cycles. In 2024, the group targeted Democratic members of Congress critical of Israel, spending millions to help unseat them. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri both lost their primaries to challengers backed by AIPAC. And as a result of AIPAC's spending, those two races became the most expensive House primaries in US history. (Notably, AIPAC funneled its money on those races through its new super PAC, the vaguely named 'United Democracy Project,' which is perhaps a sign that even AIPAC is aware of how toxic its brand has become in Democratic politics.) The millions of dollars AIPAC poured into these primaries were a desperate attempt — amid the quickly changing politics around Israel — to send Democrats a warning: Criticize Israel and you'll still face a well-funded opponent. Of course, AIPAC's influence has its limits. Despite spending record amounts of money to unseat Bowman and Bush, other representatives who have drawn AIPAC's ire — including Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Summer Lee — won reelection comfortably. In some cases, AIPAC didn't even bother trying, knowing the incumbents were too strong. That doesn't mean that AIPAC is going away. The group remains a top donor to some major Democratic figures, including Gillibrand and Jeffries. And even Democrats who reject money from pro-Israel groups can still feel boxed in by the Israel lobby. Ocasio-Cortez, for example, specifically turned AIPAC down when they approached her after she won her first primary in 2018. But it's clear why even she is wary of being too outspoken against Israel. Take, for example, her vote for an amendment that would have stripped Israel of military aid. If she has any ambitions for statewide office, it's not difficult to imagine the attack ads against her, calling her out — potentially calling her antisemitic — for voting to strip Israel of money for defensive weapons. And it's easy to see why that prospect would spook her, especially given that her state is home to the largest Jewish population in the US. It's not just AIPAC Another obstacle to Democrats shifting on Israel is that groups like the Anti-Defamation League have conflated anti-Zionism with antisemitism, making it all the more toxic for politicians to talk more openly about Israel's abysmal human rights record, let alone in support of Palestinian liberation. There's also a longstanding bias against Palestinians in American politics and culture. Politicians can get away with repeating Israeli talking points that dehumanize Palestinians, including by (as mentioned above) conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism or decrying symbols like the keffiyeh as hateful, without getting as much pushback as they would if they were talking about other ethnic groups. As a result, anti-Palestinian racism is seldom called out as its own form of discrimination and often flies under the radar. That makes it easier to defend Israel because Palestinians are too often treated as an afterthought in US politics, not people who face life or death consequences as a direct result of US policy. Finally, there's the problem of political inertia. Many establishment politicians who have been around for some time are accustomed to a different political era when support for Israel was unshakeable. They are also part of an older generation whose views on Israel are vastly different from younger Americans. The stark generational divide is even evident among Jewish voters: A recent poll in the New York City mayor's race showed that 67 percent of Jewish voters under the age of 45 support Mamdani, while only 25 percent of Jewish voters over 45 do. That all helps explain why so many establishment Democrats — used to a kind of politics where Israel enjoyed broad support from voters in both parties — might be reluctant to embrace the new political reality. But at some point, if Democrats truly want to improve their standing among the public — especially now that their approval ratings have record lows — it might be wise to start actually listening to their voters. Will Democrats ever change? The Democratic Party has many hardline pro-Israel officials, some of whom have gone to great lengths to defend Israel's indefensible actions in Gaza. In 2023, some Democrats even joined their Republican colleagues in censuring Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in the House, over her criticisms of Israel. And while Democrats have had an easier time condemning obvious targets, like Netanyahu's right-wing government or settler violence, they still have trouble criticizing Israel's routine international law violations more broadly. However, there are signs that Democrats could start changing their posture. In recent years, more and more Democratic members of Congress have become loud critics of Israel and its occupation of Palestine. Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who is not exactly a firebrand leftist, has been consistently critical of Israel's war and has even called out the Biden administration's involvement. These voices are a minority, but they show there is a potential opening for change. The fracture within the party could mean that the Biden administration's record on Gaza will be a topic of fierce debate in the 2028 Democratic primaries, given how Biden enabled one of the bloodiest military assaults this century — one that many Democratic voters, especially young people, view as a genocide. And that could further embolden progressive-leaning Democrats to be more outspoken about their opposition to Israel. As Mamdani's race in New York City showed last month, that might catch some of the more old-school, establishment Democrats by surprise, since being pro-Palestinian is no longer the third rail in American politics that it was long thought to be. After all, if Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel, was able to win the Democratic nomination for mayor of the city with the largest Jewish voting bloc in the country, then that kind of politics could have success elsewhere, no matter how hard lobbying groups try to stop it.
