A new location of a New York Palestinian restaurant opening in Brooklyn has sparked controversy for its inclusion of the phrase “from the river to the sea” on their menus.
Ayat, a bistro that advertises “honest, authentic Palestinian food made with love,” has defended using the antisemitic slogan despite locals slamming it as “openly genocidal,” according to the Daily Beast.
Restaurant owners Abdul Elenani and Ayat Masoud opened their third location this month, and have featured an illustration of a weeping Palestinian woman alongside the words “Down with the occupation” on the menus as well.
“Our interpretation of it is just simply freedom and rights to the Palestinian people between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea,” Elenani told the Daily Beast, defending the phrase that the Anti-Defamation League designates as anti-Jewish.
“We’re just against the Zionist mentality of, like, ‘Eliminate or flatten Gaza now,’” Elenani said, adding he doesn’t wish harm on Jewish people.
“Our neighbors are Jews, our friends are Jews, we work with Jewish people all day every day,” he said.
Despite this, the phrase is commonly known to be used by the radical Islamist terror group Hamas, as well as by their supporters.
Late night television host Bill Maher made headlines with a fiery monologue earlier this month, denouncing the use of “from the river to the sea” by supporters of Palestinians.
What’s happening to Palestinians today is horrible. And not just in Gaza, in the West Bank too. But war ends with negotiation. And what the media glosses over is it’s hard to negotiate when the other side’s bargaining position is “You all die and disappear.” I mean, the chant “From the river to the sea?” Yeah, let’s look at the map.
Here’s the river. Here’s the sea. Oh, I see. It means you get all of it.
Even in light of the backlash pouring in on social media towards his restaurant, Elenani still says, “We do not hate Jewish people. It’s the opposite. Judaism and Islam, they are the two most similar religions.”
The restaurateur also claimed that he had previously tried to explain his position on Facebook, but his comments were taken down for being “explicitly political.”
Hoping to expand on what he says are the two key elements to his brand, Elenani said “Number one is that I will always mention the occupation of the Palestinian people. And number two is that we will always advocate for peace.”
Inside his Brooklyn restaurant, Palestinian flags cover the walls along with pictures of people in traditional Palestinian clothing.
The Brooklyn eatery also features a mural appearing to show Palestinian children behind bars and IDF soldiers holding a crying Palestinian woman at gunpoint.
Locals have continued to criticize the controversial phraseology and imagery, with resident Dahlia Schweitzer comparing the use of “from the river to the sea” to support of the southern Confederacy.
“They’re poking the hornet’s nest and they know what they’re doing,” she told the Daily Beast.
“The best analogy that I could think [of] is if a restaurant that had Southern food had the Confederate flag on their menu and tried to spin it as ‘Oh, this is just Southern pride.’ And it’s like, you know, ‘Don’t be coy.’”
While some Brooklyn locals have denounced the restaurant, others, including Lisa Javaherikia, have said the owners “have a right to say what they want, and I have a right to go or not.”
Elenani said his business was inundated with negative reviews and “nonstop” threatening voicemails following the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.
“The conflict is always there,” the restaurant owner said to NY1. “But every time there’s an uprising, it kind of brings out that reminder that people need to have this need to fight each other.”