On Sunday, bicyclists will be holding a pro-Palestine Boycott Ride against Jewish businesses in Rittenhouse Square. While I love a good protest, I wish they had chosen another day.
While I don’t cover them much anymore, I am a fan of a good protest.
Seeing people take to the streets in service to an issue that they find important is always a good thing. The First Amendment not only allows it, it kind of requires it. America was built on protest. Lots and lots of protest.
But protest can only be truly effective if there’s nothing distracting those you’re trying to reach from the message you’re trying to get out.
I bring this up because on Sunday, the organization Philly Bike On Your Left is holding a Boycott Ride in Rittenhouse Square. The protest will focus on Jewish and Israeli-owned businesses in that area including Michael Solomonov’s Dizengoff, Huda Burger, Mac Mart and Schlesinger’s, which is owned by former City Councilmember Allan Domb.
The idea, according to the organizers, is to protest Israel’s actions on the West Bank by encouraging consumers to stay away from these businesses because the people who own them are Zionists.
(Now because that word gets tossed around a lot without anyone explaining exactly what it means, a Zionist is someone who, for want of a better way to put it, believes Israel has a right to exist. Where Israel sometimes gets into trouble with places like the United Nations is that while it has the right to exist, it often denies that right to the Palestinian people.)
Now, doing a protest ride on a Sunday makes the most sense. It’s not a workday, so you’re not going to impact commuters. All the good brunch spots are open, so if you want to grab something to eat after you’ve expressed your First Amendment rights, there’s something for every price point. Heck, you can even go to the Cheesecake Factory if you want.
But like I said, the idea of any protest is to make your message stand out, and Philly Bike On Your Left is kinda failing on that point.
First, it sent out flyers advertising the event that included some of the same type of wording that the Germans used against Jewish merchants prior to World War II. “No business for Zionists! These Zionist establishments must go! Not in our city!”
Secondly, they probably should have checked the calendar before setting this up.
Why? Because the symbolism of protesting Jewish businesses one day before the anniversary of a Nazi-led riot that terrorized Jewish business districts in Germany and Austria and led to the advent of World War II is probably not the symbolism you’re looking for.
You see, Sunday is the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass. Back in 1938, the Nazis spent Nov. 9 and 10 going through Germany, Austria, which they later annexed, and areas of Czechoslovakia, persecuting Jews and taking them to concentration camps.
I think we all know what happened after that. While America is going out of its way not to teach folks about what Native Americans or African Americans have experienced, the Holocaust is something we’ve all learned about.
By doing this protest on the eve of Kristallnacht, folks have opened themselves up to charges of antisemitism. The American Jewish Committee of Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, the Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, and StandWithUs issued a joint statement condemning the protest.
And so did several elected officials. Gov. Josh Shapiro. Mayor Cherelle Parker. Council President Kenyatta Johnson. State Reps. Malcolm Kenyatta and Amen Brown. All have issued statements decrying the protest.
Let’s be honest here. Everyone from French students demanding better educational options to Washingtonians trying to stop President Donald Trump’s latest tacky vanity project is taking to the streets these days. Protest is the mother’s milk of true change.
But when your message is drowned out due to unforced errors, like, for example, planning a protest of Jewish and Israeli-owned businesses on the eve of Kristallnacht, the people you’re trying to help don’t get their 15 minutes.
The Palestinians have enough problems without having to deal with that.
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