Pennsylvania first lady Lori Shapiro, wife of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner joined a solidarity lunch at Dizengoff on Friday, two days before a planned anti-Israel bicycle “boycott ride” targeting the restaurant and other local Jewish-owned businesses.
The Jewish Community Relations Council, which is part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, organized the gathering at the Center City restaurant.
“No business should be made to feel unwelcome in our city because of its owner’s identity, heritage or perceived political beliefs,” the Federation said.
State senators Sharif Street and Judy Schwank, state representatives Ben Waxman, Amen Brown and Tarik Khan and Philadelphia City Council member Anthony Phillips also attended the gathering. There were also representatives from the staffs of Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Pennsylvania attorney general Dave Sunday, City Council president Kenyatta Johnson and state senator Anthony Williams and from Holy Family University, JNS was told.
Pastor Carl Day, of Culture Challenging Christians, and Andrew Goretsky, of the Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia, also took part.
The boycott ride scheduled for Sunday targets Jewish-owned restaurants and falls the day before the anniversary of the 1938 Kristallnacht pogroms.
The Federation urged supporters, who plan to participate in a pro-Israel and pro-Jewish food crawl at the same time and location as the boycott ride, to avoid engaging protesters.
