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Owner of Ethiopian-Israeli Restaurant in Harlem Details ‘Unbearable’ Harassment, Death Threats That Forced Closure
Beejhy Barhany standing outside Tsion Cafe in Harlem. Photo: Provided
Ethiopian-Israeli chef and cookbook author Beejhy Barhany spoke with The Algemeiner about her recent decision to close her restaurant in New York because of consistent antisemitic harassment and even death threats that increased after she made the establishment kosher.
“The harassment has been going on for years,” said the owner of Tsion Cafe in Harlem. “It’s outside agitators, white supremacists, racist, antisemitism. I’ve been targeted by that … it kind of became unbearable. It became a burden and unsafe … to the point where somebody called and said, ‘We’re going to come and shoot you all.’” She detailed experiencing constant harassment through phone calls and her restaurant even being vandalized with swastikas.
The harassment “got worse” when Tsion Cafe, which served Ethiopian Israeli cuisine, became fully kosher after the Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Barhany said.
“After Oct. 7, we wanted to embrace our Jewishness, our proud heritage, and become fully kosher and vegan. The intention was that we are Jewish and we are here to celebrate our Jewishness. And that kind of amplified [the harassment] even more,” she noted.
“The intentions were very good,” Barhany continued. “We wanted to bring the diverse flavors of the Africa diaspora and have a dialogue and understanding — but apparently people took it in a different reaction. In a wrong understanding. That’s what happened, to the point where we said for the sake of safety and our mental health, I said, I cannot deal with this on a daily basis … because of the affiliation of being Israeli Jewish, all of the sudden, you are portrayed in a different way.”
Barhany was born in Ethiopia in a Jewish community and in 1983 moved to Israel, where she lived in a kibbutz and served in the Israel Defense Forces. She moved to New York in the early 2000s and opened Tsion Cafe in 2014.
Barhany announced on Feb. 12 that she was closing the restaurant. In a post announcing the closure on Instagram, she wrote: “To those who feel distant from us or disagree … we invite you to keep an open heart, to learn, and – if you’re willing – to engage in respectful conversation. Our hope is simple: that curiosity can replace assumptions, that learning can soften walls, and that, one day, we might even break bread together and build bridges.”
The decision to close Tsion Cafe was not easy, Barhany said. “We are invested in Harlem. Harlem is home,” she added. “We are part of the community. When we first opened, the community embraced us with warm welcoming, and we celebrated Ethiopian Jewish culture.”
Barhany contacted the New York City Police Department (NYPD) several times about the harassment targeting Tsion Cafe, but authorities did not provide much help, she told The Algemeiner. The restaurant owner said she was not looking to blame authorities for the continued harassment she faced but urged police to pay more attention to such complaints by business owners.
“Take it seriously – complaints like this,” she said. “Hopefully next time, a small business can complain about any harassment and people will take it seriously. As an immigrant, we are here to contribute, we provide and support the economy so they shouldn’t look at it and not pay attention, only [give attention] to big names. We all contribute to this society in our small way.”
Barhany said she hopes in the future to still serve Ethiopian Jewish cuisine through immersive cultural events and catering opportunities.
“What we need to do is really build bridges and highlight and amplify the different Jewish communities and celebrate our diversity,” she explained. “The Jewish world is a lot more delicious and diverse, a mosaic that is worth celebrating. And we should empower and celebrate one another. And I tried to do it in my own small part, through food, which is a universal language to engage with people, but yet people weaponize it and politicize it for no reason.”
“We’re still here in a different form to serve the community and nourish the community,” she added. “Through food we can help spread love, understanding and respect. And I hope to do that one bite at a time.”
Barhany is the founder of the Beta Israel of North America Cultural Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the Ethiopian Jewish heritage.
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U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas
Abdul El-Sayed, a U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, said in an interview aired Sunday that the Israeli government is as “evil” as Hamas, sharpening his criticism of Israel in the closely-watched Democratic primary.
“Killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil,” El-Sayed told CNN congressional reporter Manu Raja on the network’s Inside Politics program. “It’s not how evil is this one versus that one — Hamas: Evil, Israeli government: Evil. We can say both.”
El-Sayed, 41, is a physician and the son of Egyptian immigrants. He is seeking to channel the energy of the 2024 Uncommitted movement, which protested the Biden administration’s support for Israel in the war against Hamas in Gaza. He is also hoping to build on the surprise success of the New York City mayoral campaign of Zohran Mamdani in taking on the Democratic establishment.
He is locked in a dead heat with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens. The primary is set for Aug. 4.
Earlier this month, El-Sayed faced backlash for appearing alongside streamer Hasan Piker, who has been accused of antisemitic rhetoric — including saying that Hamas “is a thousand times better” than Israel. McMorrow, who is married to a Jewish man, and Stevens, who is closely aligned with AIPAC, have both criticized El-Sayed.
In the CNN interview, El-Sayed defended his decision to campaign with Piker, framing it as an effort to reach voters who feel alienated from traditional politics. “My understanding of America is, it’s a place where we have freedom of speech,” he said.
#MISen Abdul El-Sayed on CNN Inside Politics: @mkraju: You said Israeli government is evil. Do you think they’re just as evil as Hamas?
El-Sayed: “Yes, killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil. It’s not about how evil one is versus the other. Hamas —… pic.twitter.com/4GfJ5oCtqR
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) April 19, 2026
The Michigan Senate race is shaping up as one of the starkest tests of the Democratic coalition and how the party navigates policy towards Israel in Congress amid the wars in Gaza and Iran. The state is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States.
Last week, 40 Senate Democrats voted to block $295 million for the transfer of bulldozers, used by the Israeli military to demolish homes in the West Bank and Gaza; 36 of them also supported a measure to block the sale of 1,000-pound bombs to the Jewish state. It shattered a previous high of 27 Democrats who backed a similar pair of resolutions of disapproval to block some weapons transfers last year.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who is Jewish, was among those who voted for the measures. In remarks as they announced their votes, Democrats highlighted their opposition to the Israeli government’s policies in the occupied West Bank, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the war with Iran.
The post U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas appeared first on The Forward.
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NYC Mayor Mamdani Unveils Major Tax Hike on Unoccupied Luxury Real Estate
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds a press conference at the New York City Office of Emergency Management, as a major winter storm spreads across a large swath of the United States, in Brooklyn, New York City, US, Jan. 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Bing Guan
i24 News – NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has officially introduced a controversial new tax targeting secondary residences valued at over $5 million.
The measure, designed to tap into the city’s vast concentration of unoccupied luxury wealth, is projected to generate roughly $500 million annually for the municipal budget.
“This tax is specifically aimed at the ultra-rich,” Mamdani stated, highlighting high-profile examples such as Ken Griffin’s $238 million Midtown penthouse and Alexander Varshavsky’s $20.5 million Columbus Circle residence.
While the city has yet to finalize specific evaluation criteria or the methods for distinguishing primary from secondary homes, the proposal has already become a flashpoint for economic debate.
The move has drawn sharp condemnation from billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who argued that the policy is fundamentally flawed.
Ackman contended that owners of luxury secondary residences contribute significant capital to the local economy without utilizing costly municipal services. He warned that the tax would likely trigger a corporate and high-net-worth exodus to low-tax jurisdictions like Miami, ultimately harming the city’s tax base.
President Donald Trump also entered the fray, denouncing the policy as “totally misguided” and claiming it is “destroying New York.” Trump, whose own extensive real estate holdings in the city could be impacted, argued that such taxation serves only to drive away the international investors who fuel New York’s development.
Implementation remains a significant question mark, as the tax could potentially affect nearly 13,000 property owners, including major figures like Jeff Bezos. Financial analysts point out that many of the city’s most expensive apartments are held through complex offshore structures and shell companies, making the identification and appraisal of these properties an immense administrative challenge for the city.
As the debate intensifies, the Mamdani administration faces a difficult path ahead in balancing its “tax the rich” mandate with the practical realities of New York’s competitive global real estate market.
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Iran Rebuffs Trump Announcement of New Peace Talks, State News Agency Reports
Iran rejected new peace talks with the United States, its state news agency reported on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he was sending envoys for talks in Pakistan and would launch new strikes on Iran unless it accepts his terms.
Trump posted on Truth Social that his envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening for negotiations, a timetable that would leave only a day for talks to make progress before a two-week ceasefire ends.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
Iran’s official IRNA news agency cited no specific source in its report that Iran had rejected the talks.
“Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire,” IRNA wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Iran’s rejection of the talks.
Earlier, a White House official said the US delegation would be headed by Vice President JD Vance, who led the war’s first peace talks a week ago, and also include Trump’s envoy Steven Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump had initially told ABC News and MS Now that Vance would not go.