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Pro-Palestinian protesters target Philadelphia falafel shop owned by Jewish celebrity chef Michael Solomonov

(JTA) — Elected officials and Jewish groups are decrying a rally by pro-Palestinian activists in Philadelphia that targeted a restaurant founded by the Israeli-American celebrity chef Michael Solomonov.
“Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” a crowd of dozens of people chanted outside the Rittenhouse Square outpost of Goldie, Solomonov’s kosher falafel chain. Video circulating on social media of the protest, organized by the Philly Palestine Coalition to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, shows protesters crowding the restaurant shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, called the genocide chant “a blatant act of antisemitism — not a peaceful protest.” He said he had reached out to Solomonov, with whom he had previously filmed an Instagram video baking challah together ahead of Rosh Hashanah, to provide support.
Protestors in Philadelphia stand outside of a Jewish & Israeli owned falafel restaurant
“Goldie, Goldie you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” pic.twitter.com/yF7hQwev66
— Jordan (@thatJVG) December 3, 2023
“A restaurant was targeted and mobbed because its owner is Jewish and Israeli,” Shapiro wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “This hate and bigotry is reminiscent of a dark time in history.”
A spokesperson for Solomonov’s restaurant group, CookNSolo, declined to comment.
The Philly Palestine Coalition protest also called for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. The group previously drew charges of antisemitism after it called for a boycott of “Zionist” restaurants in Philadelphia in response to the Israel-Hamas war, distributing a list of targets that were owned by Jewish or Israeli restauranteurs.
“Targeting businesses solely because of their Israeli and Jewish ownership is blatant antisemitism and only further contributes to the alarming levels of hate against Jews nationwide,” two top executives at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said at the time.
Others sounded similar notes on Sunday night. Philadelphia Congressman Brendan Boyle posted, “I can’t believe I even have to say this but targeting businesses simply because they’re Jewish owned is despicable.” The Anti-Defamation League posted that “targeting businesses solely based on their Israeli or Jewish ownership is blatant antisemitism.”
Even some Jewish ceasefire advocates criticized the decision to target Goldie. Peter Beinart, one of the most outspoken Jewish critics of Israel’s actions, called the chant “idiotic and dangerous.”
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas was nearly two months ago, a range of Jewish locations across the country have been targeted by protesters and vandals — from synagogues to campus buildings to restaurants. The demonstration surrounding Goldie struck a particular chord because of Solomonov’s biography and his stated belief that food can help transcend cultural and political divides.
Solomonov was born in Israel and raised in Pittsburgh, then returned to Israel to kick off his culinary career, which he has parlayed into network of restaurants in Philadelphia and New York City all riffing on Israeli cuisine. He has said that he decided to focus on Jewish and Israeli food after his brother David was killed while serving in the Israeli army in 2003.
Michael Solomonov works the oven at his restaurant Zahav in Philadelphia, July 14, 2015. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Five days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Solomonov announced that his four Philadelphia restaurants would be donating all of that day’s profits to United Hatzalah, an emergency medical organization in Israel; the group ultimately said it donated $100,000 to the organization.
The war has also tested Solomonov’s commitment to bridging across cultures. In recent years, he has spoken repeatedly about his close friendship with Reem Kassis, a Palestinian cookbook author also based in Philadelphia. But in early November, the New York Times reported that the two hadn’t spoken since the war began.
The protest at Goldie came one day after Solomonov joined dozens of other food industry professionals in a Shabbat brunch potluck hosted by the Jewish Food Society in New York in response to rising antisemitism.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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