The organizers of a Philadelphia food truck event meant to showcase immigrant-owned businesses apparently learned the wrong lessons from the backlash they received after disinviting a food truck owned by Israeli immigrants.
On Saturday, the food truck known as Moshava posted on Instagram that its invitation to the “Taste of Home” event for Father’s Day had been rescinded, with organizers citing potential protests due to their ties to Israel, the New York Post reported.
“The organizers of the event heard rumors of a protest happening because of us being there and decided to uninvite us from fear that the protesters would get aggressive and threaten their event,” Moshava posted on its Instagram account.
The food truck owners also posted a screenshot of the statement they received from one of the two organizers of the event, Eat Up the Borders, which claimed it disinvited Moshava “in order to best serve our guests.” The organizer also said in its statement that it still maintains a policy “to give vendors from all nationalities a platform to showcase their talents and provide an awesome experience for all.”
In its Instagram post, Moshava said it hoped the organizers would actually practice what they preach by creating a place “for all religions and nationalities – not just all of them except Israeli and Jewish ones.”
A backlash ensued against the organizers, who were accused of anti-Semitism or giving in to anti-Semitic threats.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) said in a statement that rescinding Moshava’s invitation “represents surrendering to the threats of bigots.”
“If the explanation of the organizers that Moshava’s invitation was revoked due to the threat of protests and violence is true, then I believe such threats should be investigated by law enforcement, as no person or organization should be coerced or threatened by the prospect of intimidation or violence,” Boyle said in the statement.
As the Post noted, the Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia wrote on Twitter that it was “deeply disturbed” by the organizers’ decision.
“We have spoken with the event organizers and expressed that we unequivocally disagree with their decision,” the ADL wrote. “We do understand that threats to the organizers were made, and we understand the fear and confusion that comes when your community faces that intimidation.”
“However, the decision to bow to this antisemitic intimidation by disinviting Moshava was wrong,” it added. “In the next few days, we will be meeting with the organizers to discuss what happened, provide education on antisemitism and share communal security resources.”
In response, Eat Up the Borders made its social media pages private, and the co-organizer, Sunflower Philly, announced the entire “Taste of Home” event would be canceled.
“At Sunflower Philly we truly believe in creating a positive and inclusive community space here in Philadelphia,” the organization said in its own Instagram post on Sunday.
“Due to the ongoing situation with one of our event partners @eatuptheborder and @moshava_philly we have to decided to cancel the ‘Taste of Home’ event today.”
“Sunflower Philly is a non-profit organization created to bring our community together through art, music & sustainability. We will continue to host events with people of all races, nationalities and sexual orientations who are aligned with our mission,” the group added.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.
Source: Dailywire
