Protesters gathered outside Goldie in Philadelphia on Dec. 3, 2023. Photo: Screenshot

The organizers of a recent pro-Palestinian rally in Philadelphia that targeted a local Jewish restaurant have a history of backing the Hamas terrorist organization, calling for the destruction of Israel, and ridiculing victims of Hamas violence, according to a new exposé released by the watchdog group Canary Mission.

The Philly Palestine Coalition (PPC) organized a demonstration in downtown Philadelphia on Sunday during which a mob of protesters gathered outside Goldie, a vegan falafel restaurant co-owned by Israeli-American chef Michael Solomonov, and chanted “Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.” Anti-Israel protesters also vandalized the front door and windows of Goldie, according to reports.

The incident was condemned by a slew of Pennsylvania politicians as antisemitic, but the PPC tried justifying its actions in a statement released earlier this week, making outlandish accusations against Israel and the famed chef who co-owns the restaurant.

Also during the rally, the demonstrators chanted “long live the intifada” and “there is only one solution, intifada revolution.” They further spray painted “Free Palestine” on a map of the University of Pennsylvania campus, where they marched by.

Solomonov and businessman Steve Cook co-own a number of eateries under the Philadelphia hospitality group CookNSolo Restaurants, including Goldie. In a letter to Goldie’s staff on Wednesday, they addressed the demonstration outside the restaurant and the tense atmosphere among staff since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, the PPC has organized more than 15 Philly-based protests that included calls for violence against Israel and support for the deadly Hamas invasion, according to Canary Mission. The coalition collaborated on spearheading these events with other anti-Israel groups including Jewish Voice for Peace Philadelphia (JVP Philly), Penn Against the Occupation (PAO), and Temple University Students for Justice in Palestine (Temple SJP).

One of PPC’s organizers, Nada Abuasi, spoke at a rally on Oct. 28 and advocated for the destruction of Israel. While calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, she said, “A ceasefire is only the bare minimum. A ceasefire is not liberation. Liberation means ending the siege on Gaza, ending the occupation, and decolonizing Palestine from the river to the sea.”

The slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is widely considered a call for the eradication of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Abuasi previously expressed support for violence against Israel on social media, as highlighted in Canary Mission’s report. In 2021, she tweeted, “Israel is illegitimate. Abolish it.” She also wrote on X/Twitter that same year, “Palestine will not be liberated through chocolates and flowers. Our liberation necessities armed struggle.” In two separate tweets in 2022 she added, “Palestine will not be liberated until the entirety of the Zionist entity is dismantled” and “The Isr*eli state must cease to exist.”

Another PPC organizer, Jordan Vaughan, led chants calling for violence against Israel at a rally on Oct. 8 — just one day after Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 240 others. Vaughan held a lighter to an Israeli flag, ready to set it on fire, before he was stopped by another rally leader.

Canary Mission revealed in its exposé some of the antisemitic calls for violence that Vaughan has expressed on social media, including a tweet in which he wrote, “Live, Love, Hamas.” He also tweeted, “Can’t wait for the day Israel goes up in flames and all those skin cancer havin settlers perish and d** [die] and the olive trees grow up through their ashes and the wind blows and speaks to me.”

Vaughan additionally posted on X/Twitter a photo of Shani Louk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli woman who was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7, and wrote, “Glad Hamas killed this b*tch cause what’s that?”

The antisemitic activity of PPC spokesperson Nour Qutyan was also highlighted in Canary Mission’s report. Qytyan spoke at a PPC rally on Oct. 8 and defended the Hamas terror attacks that took place a day earlier in Israel.

“Hamas…they will call an Islamic terrorist group. Hamas, what they are is they’re the resistance front,” Quran said. “What they’re doing is defending their land, defending their people and defending their right to live.” She added that “indigenous people have a right to resist occupation…and that includes violent resistance.”