The customers didn’t give in to the intimidation, and the video has received criticism on social media.
Customers and staff of a Jewish-owned kosher store in Southfield endured an attempt of anti-Israel intimidation recently, but none of them gave in to the perpetrator.
A Yemeni content creator on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok known for skits and public pranks went to The Grove Kosher Market, formerly known as One Stop Kosher, and harassed Jewish patrons by showing them a picture on his phone of a Palestinian flag and the words “Free Palestine” for a recent video.
In the video, the man can be seen walking throughout and in front of the shop asking customers, to read the message on his phone and recording their reactions in the process.
None of the customers ended up reading the “Free Palestine” message, with most of them just walking away.
One customer quickly realized what the man was doing and confronted him outside of the store, saying, “There is no Palestine,” and later asking, “You have nothing to do in your life?”
At one point in the video, a manager of the store confronted the man, asking, “Are you here to shop? What else do you need?”
At another point when the man is outside the store, an employee can be heard asking him if he wants to be removed, seemingly from the premises.
The man posted it on his Instagram account, and has received many negative reactions from his own followers.
One comment on the video read, “OK, but hear me out, what if we don’t go around harassing random people?”
“This is really wrong, and I’m embarrassed for you,” said another commenter, a non-supporter of Israel. “Of course, there’s going to be some Jewish people who do support Israel, but purposefully going into Jewish communities/shops and doing this is not pushing the movement to further progression, is it?”
The video posted on his TikTok account has amassed 5.6 million views, with mostly negative comments on there as well.
“I’m Palestinian, but this is just wrong. Do better please,” one commenter said.
“What is the purpose of doing this? These are just people trying to shop at a kosher market. Leave them alone,” another commenter added.
“Counterproductive, antisemitic, not activism, just wrong,” yet another responded.
No Grove spokesperson was available for comment on the incident.
The embedded video above was uploaded by The Yeshiva World.