“Taste of Home” festival organizers apologize for not inviting Israeli food trucks to the event

“Taste of Home” festival organizers apologize for not inviting Israeli food trucks to the event

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Eat Up The Borders and Sunflower Philly are the organizers of a monthly festival called “The Taste of Home”. After the Israeli food trucks were not invited to participate in the scheduled event in Kensington last Sunday, they have reported to Moshava and the local The community apologized.

Out of concerns about anti-Israel protests and boycotts, Sunflower Philadelphia eventually cancelled the event “to prevent any discriminatory activities in our space”.


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“We understand that our actions hurt you, and we are really sorry,” Eat Boundary Said in a statement on Wednesday“We want to make it very clear that we do not support anti-Semitism or allow anti-Semitism in our space. Our actions are ignorant and inexcusable.”

Sunflower Philadelphia issued another statement on social media on Wednesday, saying it “resolutely condemns all forms of hatred, discrimination and injustice.”

The organization said: “Sunflower Philadelphia deeply regrets Moshawa, our neighbors, suppliers and the Jewish community and apologizes to us because we were involved in a very unfortunate transition.”

As some Palestinian families were expelled from East Jerusalem, tensions increased Sparked an 11-day battle between Israel and Palestine last month. For a long time, Israel and Palestine have diverged on the issue of whether they should jointly control Jerusalem.

Before a ceasefire agreement was reached at the end of May, at least 255 people were killed, most of whom were Palestinians in Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators Went to Rittenhouse Square last month Call for an end to Israel’s bombing in Gaza and protest the US’s support for Israel.

The “Taste of Home” series of activities started in April this year, aiming to celebrate diversity through food, art, entertainment and community. The April and May festivals are hosted by Eat Up The Borders and Sunflower Philly in the latter’s community center space on North 5th Street in Kensington.

Eat the border It is an organization that describes itself as “amplifying the voice of immigrants, small and family-owned restaurants through media and cooking courses.” Sunflower philadelphia Is a non-profit organization that aims to build communities “through art, music and sustainability” through activities and programs.

Moshawa, A local Israeli food and street food vendor, participated in the event last month, but the organizers received complaints that there were no Palestinian food trucks during the festival. The organizers promised to host a Palestinian food supplier at a future event.

Moshava was founded by three culinary school classmates during the COVID-19 pandemic last year. A Palestinian food truck was originally scheduled to arrive this month on Father’s Day. But Palestinian food suppliers told the organizers that they could no longer participate due to time constraints.

Despite the possibility of boycotts and protests after people saw that Palestinian food suppliers would no longer be arranged, the event organizers decided to promote the festival.

Eat the border Made a preliminary statement on Instagram late last week Defend yourself, saying “We are not concerned about where they immigrate, but about providing a platform for small businesses in Philadelphia.”

Event organizer Issue a follow-up statement on Friday, Saying that they did not invite Moshawa “in order to provide the best experience for everyone on the festival.” Eat Up The Borders stated that in order to “prioritize the safety of all”, Moshava’s next appearance will be postponed to a date in the future.

Moshawa Say on social media It is “deeply saddened” not to be invited to participate in this event.

“We really hope that in the future you will not succumb to such anti-Semitism and divisive remarks, and be true to your remarks, and provide a safe environment for all religions and ethnicities-not just all but Israel and Jews. Religion and ethnicity,” the food supplier said.

The decision to cancel Moshava’s invitation to the festival has aroused strong opposition from many people. Local Jewish American Organization And politicians like U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle.

Moshava said it is meeting with event organizers, “trying to educate and grow together in a safe space for everyone.”

“Although we are disappointed by the serious handling of this situation, we don’t think the organizers’ intentions come from anti-Semitism, but the threat they receive against their activities is,” the supplier said. “Our common goal in the future is to stay away from violence and hatred, to be able to share a platform with all members of our community, and to share our culture together.”

“We now see that it was a wrong decision to exclude any particular supplier in the name of trying to protect them,” Eat Up The Borders said. “We did what we thought was the best thing, but we failed.”

“Our actions were ignorant because we did not spend time to educate ourselves on both sides before taking action, which obviously caused harm to the Jewish community,” the organization continued. “We don’t want this matter to be covered up or forgotten, but we want to learn from our actions while we continue to educate ourselves, and to make up for our mistakes with the help of our community.”

Eat Up The Borders also apologized to other vendors and performers who were affected by the cancellation of the event.

The organization stated: “They have nothing to do with our decision. Unfortunately, their scheduled appearance in our event was rejected.” “They are small businesses run by passionate people, and their reputation shouldn’t Defiled. We ask the community to continue to support them.”

Sunflower Philadelphia promised to “take a “hands-on approach to our work to ensure that this situation does not happen again”.

“Our daily intention is to be a space of tolerance, diversity, understanding and space,” the organization said. “With the support of our community, we will proudly continue our mission.”





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