Alleged restaurant boycott list sows alarm
La Presse says that a list of Montreal restaurants it suggests should be boycotted because of their links with Israel has been circulating for months on social networks. I’d be curious to see this list because I have not been able to find it on any social media platform.
After posting this, I received an Instagram link from someone who follows the blog feed on X.
Chris 10:24 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
Strange that we’ve not seen any talk of boycotting Russian, Syrian, Yemeni, Lebanese, Burmese, Sudanese, Iranian, etc. -linked restaurants. I wonder why that is.
Such lists can backfire too, as it also provides a list for the other side to support.
Kate 10:44 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
There aren’t exactly a lot of restaurants or other businesses that can be linked to Iran, Sudan, Yemen etc. around Montreal. That’s why that is.
Ian 11:25 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
I’ve seen that list (in screencap) and it was being derided even in the circles it is meant to appeal to as obviously unresearched, including for instance businesses where one owner is Palestinian and the other Israeli, or businesses well-known to openly sympathetic to ceasefire. AFAIK it was mostly circulating on Xitter and Reddit.
The other thing about most of those other places is that the people from those countries mostly came here as refugees, except maybe the Russians, and I can only think of a handful of Russian places mostly in Hampstead and on Queen Mary and they don’t try to hide it. I like Polish food better anyhow. That said, Burmese, Yemeni, Sudanese? What do you think this is, Toronto? And really, Lebanese? It’s not like Israel where everyone has to be in the IDF.
This is exactly the same problem as I have with Plante & Housefather calling attacks on Netanyahu-sympathetic establishments anti-semitism – it endangers all the Jews who are not Netanyahu fans, of which there are many even in Israel.
DeWolf 11:27 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
Screenshots of the list have appeared on Reddit, I’m not sure if you can still find them there. One of them included justifications for the inclusion of each restaurant and the reasoning was pretty tenuous in many cases. Falafel Yoni/Pizza Toni was included because the restaurant’s social media account “follows an Israeli influencer.” Lots of dogwhistling like that.
jeather 11:36 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
If you want to boycott Israeli brands, sure, that’s a reasonable decision. But this is boycotting small local places — a good example would be Chinese restaurants owned by Chinese immigrants.
Chris 11:46 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
>There aren’t exactly a lot of restaurants or other businesses that can be linked to Iran, Sudan, Yemen etc. around Montreal
Then it could be a short list. But there is no such list. Not even a pathetic under-researched tenuous list.
I haven’t noticed a lot of protests, marches, encampments or divestments against all those other wars either, where even more people have died.
>It’s not like Israel where everyone has to be in the IDF.
Except the Hasidic of course.
jeather 11:48 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
Actually, also probably fair to boycott Indian restaurants under this schema, of which we have a lot.
Ian 11:59 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
>Then it could be a short list. But there is no such list. Not even a pathetic under-researched tenuous list.
Have you been looking?
>I haven’t noticed a lot of protests, marches, encampments or divestments against all those other wars either, where even more people have died.
There were marches for Syria, Ukraine, and Myanmar. There are active groups in Montreal supporting Sudan, Yemen, etc. You can’t be looking very hard.
>Except the Hasidic of course.
Not for long…
jeather 12:04 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
Chris, there’s been a recent court decision that the Haredi also have to serve, and won’t be subsidized for study instead. The government is fighting the first half, and I’ve not seen much detail about the second.
Also, Arab citizens aren’t conscripted, though they can sign up.
(Please take this as informational only.)
Ephraim 12:07 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
@Ian – It’s the majority who are not Netanyahu fans. If they had an election today, he would lose. Of course, he never had a majority. But went with the extreme right, often rejected by everyone because no one on the left will sit with him and view him as a criminal. I mean he was indicted for breach of trust, accepting bribes, and fraud. And the trial is still ongoing.
Ephraim 12:24 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
@jeather To correct that, Muslims Arabs are not conscripted. Druze, who are Arabs and citizens are conscripted. Circassians, who are Muslims, but not Arabs are also conscripted. Both were exempted and requested to NOT be exempted, but only men serve. The Druze used to have their own battalion, but asked to be integrated into the general army quite a while ago. There is a very interesting Druze Israeli on Instagram… and his mother (Medina) is so damn cute! She shows how to roll and cook vine leaves. She speaks Arabic and Hebrew and is a respected elder in her village, which is mixed Jewish, Muslim, Druze and Christian. Most people don’t realize how mixed many villages are in the Galilee (northern Israel).
Israel Arab Muslims and Christians need to volunteer to go to the army. And there are a growing number who do.
Tim S. 13:52 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
It was just two years ago the SAQ pulled the few Russian vodkas it has off the shelves.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8646802/quebec-boycott-russia-invasion-ukraine/
Kate 14:40 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
I just checked, Tim S., and there are zero Russian products at the SAQ now.
There’s one product from Israel, a rosé.
Blork 14:59 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
A sign of the times. Where once justice and forgiveness were virtuous, now it’s judgment and cancellation that everyone goes for, right out of the gate and without any thinking or due process. Great world we have here!
Tim S. 17:48 on 2024-07-08 Permalink
Usually repentance has to come before forgiveness.
dwgs 07:58 on 2024-07-09 Permalink
Falafel St. Jacques FTW!!
Ian 06:45 on 2024-07-10 Permalink
I haven’t been, but I’ve heard good things – I see two locations on the map, VSP & Lachine. Are they both the same or is there one in particular that merits a first-time visit?
dwgs 06:54 on 2024-07-10 Permalink
I’ve only been to the VSP one and it for sure merits a visit. The falafel pita is obviously a must, their latkes are great, and they always have several good salads. From what I’ve seen it’s all veg if that matters to some. And the people who run it are very nice.