Getting a peloton of pushback: Bikers targeting Philly Jewish businesses draw massive opposition 

It was a sea of Stars of David in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square on Sunday as counterprotesters overwhelmed a few dozen activists whose so-called “Boycott Ride” – aimed at driving Jewish-owned businesses out of the city – had the opposite effect: It drew a national outcry, along with hundreds of supporters from as far away as Canada and Israel who lined up in block-long queues outside the targeted Jewish establishments.

As word got out about the planned event – organized by the group Philly Bike On Your Left on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, a vast, Nazi-sponsored anti-Jewish riot that destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in Nazi-occupied Europe and deported 30,000 Jews to their deaths – politicians and civic leaders, including Gov. Josh Shapiro and state Attorney General Dave Sunday, responded with forceful condemnation in what became a national story.

In the end, the actual protest was relatively brief. The roughly 40 bikers were vastly outnumbered by hundreds of counterprotesters, many wearing or carrying Israeli flags (or flying them from cars that cruised the perimeter). After the square briefly filled, sparking heated confrontations, the large police presence broke up the crowd – and the keffiyeh-clad, mostly masked riders, who declined to speak to the press, took off on bikes bedecked with Palestinian flags and signs emblazoned “Free Palestine” and “End the Genocide.”

They targeted six Rittenhouse-area eateries: K’far Café, Goldie and Dizengoff, all co-owned by famed Israel-born chef Michael Solomonov; Mac Mart; Huda Burger; and Schlesinger’s, chosen, organizers said, for their proximity and Jewish ownership. Huge lines snaked down the block at each establishment as brunchgoers joined the “grassroots Jewish food crawl,” organized on social media after local Jewish organizations urged Philadelphians to show their support.

Among the diners were Larissa and Michelle (who did not want their last names used), Main Line residents waiting in line to get into Huda. They took an early-morning train and toted Israeli flags and take-home bags from K’far, where they raved about the broccoli-and-cheese bourekas. “I was told you’ve got to pace yourself,” Larissa said, calling the flaky turnovers “totally worth the wait.”

Mila (who also did not provide her last name), a Philadelphian who is not Jewish, said she joined the food crawl to support her Jewish neighbors. “I really hate all that hate. It’s not fair,” she said of the boycotters, who had derisively characterized the “zio” Jewish business owners as “disgusting humans” on Instagram posts publicizing the event that declared “No business for Zionists! These Zionist establishments must go! Not in our city!”

That kind of language drew a lengthy rebuke from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who released a six-minute response on social media in which he denounced the event’s timing and offered a short primer on Kristallnacht, “something that is very painful for many people who lost chunks of their family tree, and for anyone who cares about other human beings” – as well as the organizers’ stigmatizing of American Jews over the actions of a foreign government.

“The leadership of the Israeli government is your target – isn’t that how this is supposed to work? – as opposed to blaming all Israelis or all Jewish Israelis or all Jews all over the world?” he asked rhetorically.

Krasner added that opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “very understandable” and, in fact, is a position shared by legions of Israelis, as evidenced by that country’s recent elections. (Not a few Israelis at the counterprotest proudly whipped out photos of themselves voting in October.)

“But some of the language around this event talks about how there is no place for these businesses in Philadelphia,” he continued, “meaning what? We should deport the people, as happened in Kristallnacht – are we the new ICE?”

This past Friday, Krasner was among the officials who participated in a solidarity lunch at Dizengoff with representatives from the Anti-Defamation League and Pennsylvania first lady Lori Shapiro to show support for the targeted businesses. Among the diners were state Sens. Sharif Street and Judy Schwank – a member of the Pennsylvania Jewish Legislative Caucus – as well as state Reps. Ben Waxman, Amen Brown and Tarik Khan, and Philadelphia City Council member Anthony Phillips. 

More than one person in Rittenhouse Square shared Krasner’s viewpoint, including a Philadelphia woman who declined to give her name and was debating a young journalist from Israel. “I’m not fond of what’s going on in Gaza at all. But I think (the bikers’) message was a misfire,” she told City & State. “Saying that these are disgusting human beings – I don’t think that’s the right approach. I mean, that’s antisemitic.”  

After taking down its Instagram page this week amid a storm of criticism, Philly Bike On Your Left reappeared on the site and posted a lengthy message calling its boycott “grossly misrepresented.”

Statements in support of the group were also posted by the Philly Democratic Socialists of America – which specified that it did not endorse the event, but condemned the “recent political repression of anti-Zionism” ­– and by Boycott CookNSolo, a group listed as a “collaborator,” who said “a small group of bicyclists against genocide” had been “villainized by social media Zionists and self-serving politicians.”

Throughout most of the day, however, the atmosphere around Rittenhouse Square was one of Jewish solidarity. Signs declared “#End Jew Hatred” and “Choosing today’s date to protest shows your true colors,” and most of those gathered sported Israeli regalia.

Among them was Rick Zidelman of Bala Cynwyd, who wore an Israel Ride team jacket – he was a participant in the Israel Ride, a past annual environmental charity event – over a shirt with an American flag and a facsimile of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, beginning with “We The People.”

Zidelman trolled the boycotters by showing up to join the ride. On seeing his getup – including a bike decked out with an Israeli flag, and an Israel team helmet – “some of them said, ‘You can’t be here,’” he recalled afterward, “and all I said was, ‘I’m here for the ride.’ ‘You’re here for the ride?!’ ‘I’m here for the ride.’ It was like a Sacha Baron Cohen moment.”