Since Autumn, a group of Ladbroke Grove residents have protested genocide by targeting the Kensington branch of the Israeli restaurant Erev (also known as Miznon).

When mainstream media and politicians mobilised to support Erev, they studiously avoided the arguments of the protestors who had raised the alarm over the Israeli-owned restaurant. The protestors’ arguments weren’t difficult to decipher; they were in plain English on banners and flyers and in the content of speeches made. The media and politicians also avoided mentioning the two co-founders of Erev, in case any of their readers might search the names online and discover the ugly truth, that the protests were against Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, which the co-founders are (prima facie) complicit in.

A Resident Told Urban Dandy:

“We have been protesting outside Miznon/Erev in Elgin Crescent for months. We are there because the owners, Shahar Segal and Eyal Shani, are celebrity supporters of the genocide in Gaza. Segal was the spokesperson for the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation which created killing zones at food aid centres. Shani catered to the IDF active in Gaza.

“We have been described as anti-semitic and ‘Jew haters’ but I must make this clear. We are neither, and our protest is not directed at Judaism, but we are anti-zionist and highly critical of the actions of the Israeli state, and we are appalled that such proud defenders of genocide are based in our neighbourhood.”

Facts

The media and politicians have pretended the protests are antisemitic in nature, comparing them to the Nazis in 1930s Germany. This alternative reality was authored by Britain’s Zionist movement, functioning through non-Jewish far-right groups allied to Israeli racism, either through a shared hatred of Muslims (complemented by an omertà over Israel’s persecution of Christians and non-Zionist Jews), financial incentives, or both.

Members of the far-right mob that attacked peaceful Ladbroke Grove protestors at Erev in December are at every Zionist counter-protest in London. Most are associated with Our Fight UK, or Stop the Hate UK, predominantly non-Jewish pro-Israel groups aligned with the politics of Tommy Robinson.

One of the Our Fight group that attacked Ladbroke Grove locals in December was identified as Russell Collins, who was filmed in March harassing anti-genocide protesters (trigger warning, this person is disturbing):

A participant at the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network picket at the Jewish National Fund in March told Urban Dandy the Zionist counter-protestors were “absolutely rabid.”

They might be rabid but that doesn’t stop the police being on terms with them, another feature of the very singular dynamics around Erev.

When an Indian restaurant in Hammersmith recently shut down following a campaign of harassment, its owner cited “a lack of proper support from the Met Police,” yet Erev has received significant police resources. In January, ordered by the Met’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Jon Savell, the police moved in with force to arrest a young Jewish anti-genocide protestor. When two local peaceniks returned that month to distribute flyers providing facts on the restaurant’s links to genocide, the Met gave Erev two police van’s worth of protection. But the only violence outside Erev has come from pro-Israel operatives and the Met.

No Grassroots Support

With the Jewish population of Britain being approximately 0.5% of the national total, and with plenty of Jews being anti-Zionist, Israel cannot rely on grassroots backing, especially given its repeated targeting of British citizens. As has been shown in Kensington, the Zionists have to manufacture support.

Manufactured in Kensington

• When Palestinian flags flew on Portobello Road in August, a Zionist campaign to have them taken down saw 1000+ complaint emails sent to the Council. All the emails contained the same specific typo, but the Council acted on them as if a thousand people had genuinely been in touch. Full story here.
• Far-right agitators have been bussed in to violently disrupt protests at Erev and, more recently, in Golborne ward during election canvassing.
• Notting Hill Hoodhub – a popular local Instagram account has been trying to create the impression of local support for Erev, but closer scrutiny revealed that support to be manufactured and not very local.

And that’s just a few examples from one neighbourhood in one city.

Meanwhile in Berlin

Segal and Shani closed a branch of their Gila and Nancy restaurant just eight months after it opened. The Germans protested because it works. Their Ladbroke Grove counterparts have the same aim: chase the genociders out of London and honour the thousands murdered by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. 

by Tom Charles @tomhcharles

Cover image: by Hossam Shabat, via Wikimedia Commons. The photograph captures the death by starvation of 17 year old Mohammed Assaf in the Gaza Strip. The photographer was a journalist at al Jazeera and Drop Site and was killed aged 23 in an apparently targeted strike by Israel because of his journalism.