The strong push-back to the last second cancellation of the Taste of Home food festival in Philadelphia by the organizers who uninvited an Israeli vendor, Moshava Philly, under threats of violence from the unnamed because an Israeli was invited (hmm, who would have done that?), which I wrote about here, surprised the cowardly organizers.  Following thousands of years of history, the organizers, Sunflower Philly and Eat Up The Borders, succumbed to hate and blamed the Israeli victim, stating: 

In order to best serve our guests, we decided to remove one of our food vendors for Sunday's event so that we could deliver an optimal experience for all.  This decision came from listening to the community we wish to serve and love.

Hmm, so an "optimal experience" for a community the organizers "wish to serve and love" meant validating hate and terror and kicking out the victim.

Apparently, there was another community that opposed giving in to terrorist threats and reacted.  Effectively.  Strongly.  And so, after initially shutting down their social media sites, EUTB finally managed to drool out a mushy statement, which also rewarded those who threatened.

We understand that our actions have hurt you and we are truly sorry. We want to be very clear that we do not support antisemitism or allow antisemitism in our spaces. Our actions were ignorant and inexcusable.

A decent apology — they should have stopped there.  But they didn't.  EUTB's statement continued:

Our series of "A Taste of Home" events started in April 2021. Moshava attended our second spring event in May 2021. After the event, we received some pushback from activists who criticized the attendance of Moshava. Not wanting to unintentionally alienate any members of our community, we decided to host a Palestinian food vendor in our future event.

Oh — those unknown "activists" "criticized" Moshava's upcoming attendance.  However, while there was certainly a place for a Palestinian (sic) food vendor, who not so incidentally was invited but couldn't attend for other reasons, why did those "activists" criticize the presence of an Israeli vendor?  And why did EUTB not invite another Palestinian (sic) vendor initially?  Why did they agree to do so only after threats?  Blah, blah, blah, they equivocated, apologizing to both the kicked-out vendor and the fans of the terrorists. 

"We look forward to listening, learning, and growing from this," they dribbled, concluding with clichéd hopes for a better world for all the lefty fashionable victims du jour.

Sunflower Philly's apology, as befits a more sophisticated, experienced organization, was slightly better, with a hint of sincerity.  Gurgling the usual peace and love clichés —"constructive dialogue" and, of course, "inclusion" — while shifting blame for the abrupt cancellation to EUTB, they at least apologized to Moshava, the vendor, and even to the Jewish community.  They thus at least grudgingly acknowledged the real victims of the hate after initially blaming them for the shutdown — "to prevent any kind of discriminatory activity in our space"!  Equivocation.

Sunflower Philly categorically denounces all forms of hatred, discrimination and injustice. 

We cancelled the "Taste of Home" event scheduled for June 20th, 2021, which was being organized by Eat Up The Borders, to prevent any kind of discriminatory activity in our space. 

Sunflower Philly deeply regrets and apologizes to Moshava, our neighbors, vendors, and the Jewish community for our part in a very unfortunate turn of events. 

We allow third party event promoters and organizations to make their own decisions regarding productions and this model has allowed us to host over 50 diverse events in 2021. Moving forward we will be taking a hands-on approach with our productions to ensure this doesn't happen again. Our daily intention is to be a place of inclusion, diversity, understanding and peace. With our community's support, we will proudly carry on our mission. 

All mistakes are an opportunity to learn and grow.

As for Moshava, well, business has increased, and, as their Instagram account informs us, #proudisraeli 

#proudtobejewish #moshavaphilly #jewsofamerica #standwitisrael #standwithus #israelifood #israel #equlity

Haters, eat your heart out!  B'tayavon!  (Translation: Bon appétit!)

Image: StateofIsrael via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

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