Vile vandals slapped anti-Semitic screeds across the windows of a Brooklyn Israeli restaurant — but the owner wants to leave the messages up in a defiance to shed a light on hate local Jewish residents are experiencing.
“Genocide cuisine,” was one of the messaged stenciled with red paint across the windows and doors of Miriam, an Israeli-owned middle eastern restaurant in Park Slope.
“Israel steals culture” was another, while the front door and stoop was splashed with red paint in a clear attempt to emulate spilled blood.
The attack went down just before 3 a.m. Sunday morning, with three vandals sneaking up on the spot under the cover of darkness with their faces hidden behind hoods and masks.
One of the vandals served as a lookout, while the other two hurriedly marred Miriam’s windows before scurrying off into the night, security footage obtained by The Post showed.
“It’s just a sad thing, you know, I don’t know what people, why they’re so angry about a restaurant in Brooklyn,” said Rafael Hasid, who’s owned the restaurant for 20 years.
“I’m Israeli, like, ‘I’m sorry I was born in Israel?’ I’m not stealing anybody’s food, not doing anything. I don’t know what people, what do they want from me, what did I do?” he told The Post.
The incident was the second time his restaurant was targeted by anti-Israel agitators. About two years ago, Hasid’s Miriam location on the Upper West Side was similarly vandalized.
He’s also been subjected to numerous threatening phone calls, while he said random people who have never eaten at his restaurants have blanketed him with negative reviews online.
While he has everything he needs to clean the paint off his glass, Hasid decided to open his doors Sunday without cleaning it off to people are forced to look at the hate lurking in their own neighborhood.
“I want people to see it. I want the people to see it. I don’t want to wash it right away. People should see and like, see that things like that happen,” he said.
And he said the public’s response has been inspiring, with people stopping by to eat who otherwise hadn’t planned to, some offering to donate to help with the clean up, and others sticking their heads in the simply offer their support and condolences.
US Sen. Chuck Schumer even stopped by to place an order and show his support, the owner said.
Police are investigating the incident, and have have posted officers to stand watch nearby.
Incidents of antisemitism have spiked across the city since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and brought the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the headlines.
Additional reporting by Steven Vago
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