NARBERTH, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Waving Israeli flags and holding signs with phrases like “no place for hate,” dozens of people rallied against antisemitism Sunday afternoon in Narberth after a Jewish-owned restaurant was vandalized with graffiti.
The words “free Gaza” were spraypainted on the side of Nana’s Kitchen and Catering, located on North Narberth Avenue, last week. The graffitied wall is in the alleyway, shared with an Israeli-owned phone repair shop. The Narberth Borough Public Works Department helped clean it off on Friday. Authorities are investigating the incident along with the Anti-Defamation League.
“Saying ‘free Gaza’ is not antisemitic,” said Noga Senderowitsch, daughter of the restaurant’s owner. “Yearning for the Gazans to have their own free country is not antisemitic. Criticizing the Israeli government is not antisemitic. But deciding that a Jewish business that has nothing to do with the war is responsible for the war in Gaza and needs to be told to ‘free Gaza,’ that is antisemitic.”
Community members came together on Sunday to show support for the restaurant.
“We’re all hurting,” said Tali Reiner Brodetzki, who helped organize the rally. “When we are here, we feel that we are safe and protected — and then we get these bombshells in the form of vandalism and in the form of hate crimes and it just shakes us up even more.”
Dafna Ofer, who is originally from Israel and now resides in Bala Cynwyd, said it was painful to see this happen, but as a community, they’ll stand tall.
“We don’t do hate. We do love,” she said. “We want to have peace. We want to live in peace.”
Since the start of the war in Gaza, more than 31,000 Palestinians have been reported dead by local health officials. Hamas is still holding about 100 Israelis hostage since its terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
Two of those hostages are relatives of Senderowitsch.
“Iair and Eitan Horn, who are being held hostage in Gaza after being kidnapped from their home. They’ve been sitting there in the tunnels. We don’t know what their status is. We don’t know if they’re alive. We pray that they come home.”