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A Brooklyn coffee shop denied service to an Israeli man, who did not remain silent about the attack on his nationality. The incident that occurred last week caused outrage on social media, which continues.
According to S., an engineer living in the borough, he was told by the manager at Variety Coffee Roasters' Park Slope branch that he cannot buy coffee there because he is impolite and committed genocide.
S. who had moved to Park Slope a year ago with his young family, said he was out for a walk and speaking Hebrew on the phone with his family in Israel when he engaged in conversation with two women outside the shop, one of whom was wearing a T-shirt with the words "Genocide" and "Stolen Land" on it.
S said he tried to have a civil conversation but it quickly deteriorated into accusations of antisemitism and Nazism.
When he entered the coffee shop and asked for a latte, the man at the counter (whom S said he thought was also Jewish) refused to serve him and said he did not like how he had spoken to the women, one of whom is a regular customer.
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"I thanked him for his opinion. Then he told me I was being rude and demanded that I leave. There was a scene and I said I was not leaving with my head bowed down." Eventually, the server offered him the coffee, but S. refused. He said it was the first and last time he would visit the establishment.
Variety Coffee Roasters did not respond to Ynet's request for comment and there was no mention of the incident on its website.
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Pro-Palestinian protest outside the Brooklyn Museum in June 2024
(Photo: Eduardo Munoz / Reuters)
But as the incident caused a stir on social media, some called to boycott the chain - one of New York's more popular coffee shops, or give it low ratings online.
S. said the neighborhood is rife with anti-Israel sentiment, including around young children.
"We chose to live in Park Slope because it has good schools," he said. "My kids, who are under the age of six, have already experienced enough antisemitism." S. said that they feel unsafe because of the pro-Palestinian activism, including fundraising and parents who plan "resistance" events.