The owner of a vegan kosher food chain in Washington, D.C., said boycotts that targeted his business for its ties to Israel led to the permanent closure this month of his last two restaurants.

This development is the latest chapter in an ongoing wave of vandalism and boycotts aimed at Israeli and kosher restaurants, which have become frequent targets since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Shouk, which opened its first location in 2016, was listed on D.C. for Palestine’s “Apartheid? I Don’t Buy It” boycott initiative in March, categorized under “restaurants that culturally appropriate or sell Israeli settlement products.”

While it was unclear what effect the boycott had on the restaurant’s bottom line, organizers of the boycott happily took credit for the closure.

“LOCAL BDS WIN IN DC!!” D.C. for Palestine posted to Instagram in reference to Shouk’s closure. “In times like these, it is still important to uplift small wins, as they are glimmers of the world we want to see!”

Jinan Deena, a Palestinian chef who helped organize the boycott against Shouk, told the Forward she took issue with Shouk’s Israeli branding, viewing its omission of the cuisine’s Palestinian roots as part of a larger pattern of cultural erasure.

“This food ties us to our land,” Deena said. “As long as we continue to serve our food [and] we properly label our food as Palestinian, then we will always continue to exist.”

Shouk had tried to be sensitive to concerns like Deena’s. The restaurant once described its menu as “Tel Aviv street food,” but in recent years had shifted to marketing it as Mediterranean fare, co-founder Dennis Friedman said in an interview. The restaurants displayed the word “Shouk” in both Hebrew and Arabic — “Souk” — to signal that it was “a place for all to come,” Friedman said.

“I think more of the issue was that I’m an American Jew, and my business partner was from Israel,” he said.

Deena rejected that characterization, arguing her criticism was not about Jewish identity but cultural appropriation. “There’s a difference between Jewish and Israeli cuisine,” she said. “I’m not attacking anyone for matzo ball soup or schnitzel.”

‘Food is not owned’

Friedman and Ran Nussbacher co-founded Shouk to bring healthy, plant-based food to the Washington, D.C., area as part of a fast-casual concept.

They named the restaurant after the Hebrew word for an open-air market, and the plant-based menu was inspired by the food Nussbacher ate while growing up in Israel.

Shouk’s veggie burger earned early acclaim. The Washington Post called it their favorite in the area during the restaurant’s first year, and in 2018, the Food Network highlighted it on its series “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.”

At its peak, Shouk operated five locations across Maryland and D.C. Two of its locations closed in 2023 for unrelated reasons.

But the restaurant soon got caught up in discourse over who lays claim to foods like falafel and hummus, long the subject of contentious debate among Israeli and Palestinian chefs.

Starting in 2022, Deena, who spent her teenage years living in Ramallah in the West Bank, used her personal Instagram account to help organize a boycott of Shouk, along with other Israeli restaurants in the area. She critiqued Shouk’s description of the menu as inspired by “the open-air markets in Tel Aviv.”

“Profiting off of the occupation and oppression of my ancestors is a hard line for me, and should be for you too,” Deena wrote. “Erasure of Palestinian food is a part of the occupation strategy.”

At the time, Nussbacher dismissed such disputes as missing the larger purpose of food.

“I’m disappointed when we don’t use food as a bridge,” Nussbacher told Moment Magazine in 2022. “Is pizza an appropriation of Italian culture? Is pasta Italian or Chinese? Food is not owned. Food is dynamic. And it’s created and recreated time and again. The question of ownership is irrelevant.”

The boycott gains traction

Shouk was “on track toward profitability” at the start of this year, the restaurant said in an email to customers about its closure.

Sales declined dramatically this summer, Shouk said in the email, more than the typical seasonal decline.

Friedman, who did not share specifics about the business’ financials, attributed the downturn to protesters chanting “Free Palestine” outside the restaurant, gluing posters to the restaurant’s windows and outdoor seating, and coming inside to intimidate customers and staff.

At Shouk’s Georgetown location, which closed in 2024, protesters were “steady and frequent, and they just didn’t let up,” Friedman said.

“We heard from customers that there was some concern. It was either concern for safety or just not wanting to deal with that negativity in that type of environment,” Friedman said. “And I couldn’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to, either.”

Friedman said he was in touch with authorities about the incidents, and a plainclothes officer began monitoring the situation from a car across the street. But he said the extra security ultimately didn’t make a difference.

On Oct. 3, Shouk emailed customers explaining why the remaining two restaurants in Rockville, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. had closed.

“One factor was that we found ourselves caught in the crosscurrents of a toxic political climate surrounding the Israel/Gaza war,” Shouk wrote. “More and more, customers have chosen to avoid businesses connected to Israel. We heard from long-time regulars who stopped visiting us for these reasons.”

“The restaurant business is a hard business to begin with, with razor thin margins,” Friedman told the Forward. “And so if you have something like this, and it’s prolonged, it’s kind of inevitable what’s going to happen.”

Friedman emphasized that Shouk was “not a political place.” To the extent that the restaurant did engage in advocacy, Friedman said, it was focused on environmental issues, from promoting plant-based eating to using biodegradable cutlery.

“We wanted to truly do something that could be a game changer. And for quite a while it was — so that’s why it makes it a little heartbreaking that we had to stop,” he said. “Even though I’m sad of how it ended, man, I’m grateful for the last 12 years.”

The post An Israeli restaurant chain said it closed due to boycotts. Protesters are celebrating. appeared first on The Forward.

Charlie Kirk speaking at the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2025. Photo: Brian Snyder via Reuters Connect

The unfounded speculations promoted in recent weeks by some right-wing podcast figures of a hidden Israeli hand behind the killing of pro-Israel activist Charlie Kirk have now led to one arrest, with law enforcement in Florida charging a man with 12 counts for allegedly threatening Jewish conservative media personalities who he suspected of being part of the conspiracy.

Florida state Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on Monday that his Office of Statewide Prosecution was notified last week of “multiple, specific death threats made to Jewish conservative media members who live in Florida.”

After an investigation, Uthmeier continued, “we obtained an arrest warrant for Nicholas Ray of Spring, Texas. Ray is now in custody and will be extradited to Florida to face charges of extortion, written threats to kill, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.”

Ray, who now faces 140 years behind bars if convicted on all charges, allegedly targeted Newsweek senior editor-at-large Josh Hammer, New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon, and far-right podcaster Laura Loomer.

The New York Post reported that the probable cause affidavit it reviewed says that Ray used a “zionistarescum” X account to make the threats between Oct. 8 and 10. The account follows a Dallas Cowboys fan, the neo-Nazi Paul Miller, and Candace Owens, the former Daily Wire host who has reinvented herself in recent years as an independent podcaster focused on a plethora of provocations from anti-Israel conspiracy theories to accusing Brigitte Macron, the first lady of France, of being born male, an accusation which has prompted an international lawsuit.

Police say that Ray wrote that Hammer had “conspired with foreign govt about killing Charlie [Kirk].” Ray allegedly fantasized that Hammer “SHOULD LITERALLY BE KILLED BY A FIRING SQUAD” and labeled him a “TRAITOR.”

Markowicz, Dillon, and Loomer received similar accusations of involvement with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and the so-called “genociding” in Gaza. A threat targeting Dillon read, “You’re in on it too bitch don’t think we forgot. Conspired with foreign govt about killing Charlie we f–king know you did bitch. We’re gonna get you I promise maybe not today or tomorrow but you’re living on borrowed time and you know it.”

Uthmeier told “The Ben Shapiro Show” on Tuesday that Ray was “clearly demented” and “was calling for the death of several in conservative media, using antisemitic verbiage in his threats.” He added, “We’re going to throw the book at him and send a clear message: If you call for violence, you will be punished, you will do as much time as possible in the state of Florida. We have zero tolerance for it.”

Earlier this month, Owens promoted the conspiracy theory that Hammer may have had foreknowledge of Kirk’s murder, pointing to a tweet he had made referencing the Aug. 22 death of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who was fatally stabbed on a North Carolina train, and doubling down when challenged.

Hammer has in turn considered filing a lawsuit against Owens for the claim.

“I mean, when you put yourselves out there, you’re going to get pushback. But this is not pushback, right? I mean, this is not someone responding to a legal theory of mine or making an intelligent point about the two-state solution or not two-state solution,” Hammer told interviewer Erin Molan. “No, I mean this is literally just picking a Jewish person and calling him sub-human filth, and sickening your band of millions and millions of neo-Nazi zealots on a Jewish person who happens to be a, yeah, like Charlie, happens to be a husband and a father to a young child.”

Hammer continued, “So, I mean it’s just awful, awful stuff. And I guess I will say, Erin, I’m pretty sure I’ve said this publicly already, you know, I’m talking to lawyers. I think — I’m a lawyer with my background. I clerked for a federal appeals judge. I know a thing or two about United States constitutional law. I think that we have a potentially serious case here for defamation, and I’m very much speaking with lawyers. And we’ll see what happens.”

As of Thursday, the “zionistarescum” X account remains live. The most recent posting, from Oct. 15, states, “When Israel is purged it will be biblical.” A warning on X notes that the post has been classified as “Visibility limited: this Post may violate X’s rules against Violent Speech.” It has received more than 5,000 views.

The user also criticizes US President Donald Trump, writing on Oct. 10, “Dude that funded ethnic cleansing and genocide begging for a prize cause his daddy didn’t love him enough #NobelPeacePrize,” a thought which received more than 1,500 views.

Preceding that statement, “zionistarescum” shared a posting from Loomer from Oct. 9 that was critical of Owens.

“F–k @RealCandaceO,” Loomer wrote. “This woman would be in her basement under the name ‘Red Pill Black’ if it weren’t for President Trump. She owes her entire career to President Trump and his family. She even had her wedding at one of his properties. She is the biggest grifter and opportunist. She was always a liberal and she doesn’t speak for me, MAGA [Make America Great Again], or the Trump base. Donald Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for securing many peace deals. Not just between Israel and Hamas. She doesn’t speak for MAGA. She has and always will only speak for herself and the voices in her head. I’m so sick of these ingrate ‘influencers’ attacking Donald Trump after they used him to acquire wealth and fame. F–k this stupid bitch.”

The user responded, “WAHH WAHH PEOPLE GOT RICH AND FAMOUS OFF DONALD TRUMP WAHH DONALD TRUMPS FAMILY IS 100 BILLION RICHER SINCE ELECTED HES THE MOST CORRUPT PRESIDENT OF ALL TIME. JEW JEW JEW JEW.”

On Wednesday, Loomer shared a clip of Owens on X in which the podcaster apparently stated that Kirk’s murder has “made me fully lose faith in Trump.”

Loomer wrote with the video that Owens “is now implying that President Trump murdered Charlie Kirk. Absolutely unhinged.”

A crowd gathers at the Jardin Ilan Halimi in Paris on Feb. 14, 2021, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Halimi’s kidnapping and murder. Photo: Reuters/Xose Bouzas/Hans Lucas

Tunisian twin brothers in France were sentenced to eight months in prison each for allegedly cutting down an olive tree planted to honor Ilan Halimi, the French Jewish man tortured to death nearly a decade ago. However, the two men were acquitted of antisemitism charges filed against them, prompting outrage among Jewish leaders in France.

On Wednesday, the brothers faced trial on charges of “aggravated destruction of property” and “desecration of a monument dedicated to the memory of the dead on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion,” offenses carrying a sentence of up to two years in prison.

The court acquitted them of committing an antisemitic hate crime, ruling that the brothers were unaware they had desecrated Halimi’s memorial.

Even though they admitted to being in the garden on the night of the incident, the brothers denied cutting down the tree and claimed they were unaware of Halimi’s story, leading the court to rule that the act was not antisemitic in nature.

Both of them were sentenced to eight months in prison, but one of them received a suspended sentence, meaning he will not serve time unless he commits another offense or violates certain conditions.

The two 19-year-old undocumented men with prior convictions for theft and violence were arrested in August for vandalizing Halimi’s memorial in the northern Paris suburb of Épinay-sur-Seine.

Investigators tracked them down after discovering two slices of watermelon left by the perpetrators at the base of the olive tree, which contained their DNA.

Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) — the main representative body of French Jews — strongly condemned the ruling, warning that it fuels antisemitism and fails to address anti-Jewish hatred.

“Turning a blind eye to antisemitism when the tree honoring Ilan Halimi is cut down is an affront to everyone who stands against hatred toward Jews,” Arfi wrote in a post on X.

“With this decision, the justice system not only fails to address antisemitism but also worsens the problem,” he continued. “The prosecution must appeal to ensure that the justice system can serve both to remedy and to deter antisemitism.”

Refuser de voir l’antisémitisme quand on abat l’arbre en hommage à Ilan Halimi, c’est faire affront à tous ceux qui luttent contre la haine des Juifs !

Avec cette décision, non seulement la justice n’apporte pas de réponse à l’antisémitisme mais elle aggrave le problème.

Le… https://t.co/yNMOCVSEbQ

— Yonathan Arfi (@Yonathan_Arfi) October 23, 2025

Halimi was abducted, held captive, and tortured in January 2006 by a gang of about 20 people in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux.

Three weeks later, Halimi was found in Essonne, south of Paris, naked, gagged, and handcuffed, with clear signs of torture and burns. The 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.

In 2011, an olive tree was planted in Halimi’s memory. Earlier this year, in one of the latest attacks on Halimi’s memory, the memorial in the northern Paris suburb of Épinay-sur-Seine was found felled — probably with a chainsaw.

Since the attack, French authorities have been working to replant olive trees to honor Halimi’s memory.

France’s Jewish community has faced a troubling surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct.7, 2023.

Jewish leaders have repeatedly urged authorities to take swift action against the growing wave of targeted attacks and anti-Jewish hate crimes, which continue even as the US-backed ceasefire and peace plan appear to have brought the conflict in Gaza to a halt.

Last week, a 13-year-old Jewish boy was brutally assaulted by a group of teenagers in the elevator of his apartment building in Paris, prompting French authorities to open an investigation into the incident as a suspected antisemitic hate crime.

According to French media, the boy was ambushed by five teenagers — who had attended the same youth center as him — after returning home from school.

As the boy entered the elevator in his building, the attackers followed him, harassing him and grabbing at his clothing.

When he asked them to stop, the group of teenagers began to physically assault him while shouting “dirty Jew” and hurling other antisemitic insults.

After his father found him lying on the ground outside the elevator, the boy was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for spinal injuries and fitted with a neck brace.

Arfi denounced the attack, describing it as “a horrifying reflection of France’s runaway antisemitism.”

“When Jewish children are not safe in their schools or homes, it is the Republic itself that is under threat,” he wrote in a post on X.​