BDS and Anti-Semitism Shutter Israeli Restaurant in Munich
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Did Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) put a Jewish eatery out of business in Germany?
The Jewish owner of Munich’s Schmock Israeli restaurant announced he’s closing after 16 years because of rising anti-Semitism — and strong anti-Israel sentiment — in the Bavarian capital.
Florian Gleibs even placed a large sign in Schmock’s window reading: “We are not involved with politics.” But the hostility toward him and his restaurant continued, according to The Jerusalem Post.
“The BDS campaign disguises the socially unacceptable,” Charlotte Knobloch, the head of Munich’s Jewish community and a Holocaust survivor, told The Post. “It has modernized the Nazi slogan ‘Don’t buy from Jews!’ by demanding, ‘Don’t buy from the Jewish state.’”
BDS has held anti-Israel events in Munich municipal facilities for years, the Post reported.
Gleibs owns two other Munich restaurants, including the Jewish-themed Meschugge. He plans to reopen Schmock as a Laotian eatery.
Michael Kaminer is a contributing editor at the Forward.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
