An Israeli food truck was allegedly booted from a Philadelphia food truck event because organizers were worried about protests, according to posts on Instagram.
Moshava, an Israeli food truck, posted what appears to be a message from “The Taste of Home” event organizers Eat Up The Borders (EUTB) and Sunflower Philly on their Instagram Saturday. The message says the goal of EUTB “is to uplift as many passionate small businesses in the Philadelphia area as possible.”
“In order to best serve our guests, we decided to remove one of our food vendors for Sunday’s event so that we could deliver an optimal experience to all,” the message appears to read. “This decision came from listening to the community we wish to serve and love.”
View this post on Instagram
Moshava called the news “unfortunate.”
“We are deeply saddened by this. The organizers of the event heard rumors of a protest happening because of us being there and decided to uninvite us from the fear that the protesters would get aggressive and threaten their event,” Moshava posted to Instagram.
“We were really hoping that the organizers … would step up to the plate and defend local, small and immigrant based businesses, no matter where they are from, but by the looks of it fear, violence, and intimidation got the best of them.”
“We really do hope that in the future you don’t succumb to such antisemitic and dividing rhetoric and keep true to your words of a safe environment for all religions and nationalities – not just all of them except Israeli and Jewish ones,” the vendor continued.
Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle said he was “stunned and saddened” about the decision to disinvite Moshava from the event.
“This decision represents surrounding to the threats of bigots,” Boyle said. “Given the disturbing rise in acts of antisemitism across our region and country, this decision by the organizers is only helping to embolden those who would use threats of protest or even violence to prevent any people, businesses and entire communities from living and operating freely without fear.”
The Philadelphia Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said they were “deeply disturbed” by the decision to boot Moshava from the event.
“The decision to bow to this antisemitic intimidation by disinviting Moshava was wrong,” the group tweeted.
However, the decision to bow to this antisemitic intimidation by disinviting Moshava was wrong.
In the next few days, we will be meeting with the organizers to discuss what happened, provide education on antisemitism and share communal security resources.4/5
— ADL Philadelphia (@ADLPhiladelphia) June 20, 2021
The event was later canceled, with Sunflower Philly posting a message on Instagram explaining their decision. (RELATED: New Jersey Hookah Shop Removes Anti-Semitic Banner With Swastika After Protests)
“At Sunflower Philly we truly believe in creating a positive and inclusive community space here in Philadelphia,” the organizer wrote. “Due to the ongoing situation with one of our event partners @eatuptheborders and @moshava_philly we have decided to cancel the ‘Taste of Home’ event today.”
Moshava later said they plan to meet with both organizers “to try and educate and grow together in a safe space for everyone.”
“Although we were disappointed with how the situation was greatly mishandled we do not believe the organizers intention came from an antisemitic place but the threats the were receiving to their event were.”
The Daily Caller has reached out to Moshava and Sunflower Philly but did not receive a response at the time of publication.