For anyone in denial about the anti-Semitism that Israel faces in the Middle East, a small shawarma restaurant explains it all. A restaurant in Jordan opened with the name “October 7” in order to celebrate the massacre Hamas conducted in Israel on that bloody day.
A video clip of the bustling restaurant was posted to social media by none other than Dima Tahboub, a former member of parliament, writer, political analyst and a member of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood.
The Times of Israel reports:
In the two-minute video, an unidentified man films the customer-packed restaurant from outside, as well as its surroundings, and then goes into the eatery, where customers and employees with “October 7” robes greet him while he congratulates the staff on the new name.
Tahboub has previously courted controversy for praising a Jordanian soldier who carried out the 1997 Island of Peace massacre in which seven Israeli schoolgirls were murdered and six others injured.
Israel’s Ynet news reached out to the restaurant which claimed the unidentified owner’s daughter graduated from med school in Algeria on October 7. However, Ynet notes the eatery’s Facebook page casts doubt on the explanation, showing that it had previously existed under a different name and asked followers to suggest a new name, with a commenter being the one who suggested “October 7,” a suggestion that was accepted.
The Times of Israel gives background on the role Jordan has played since the October 7 massacre:
Two weeks into the war, Israel issued a warning against travel to Jordan and other Arab countries.
Jordan, whose population is believed to be at least 50 percent Palestinian, recalled its ambassador to Israel in early November, with Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi telling envoy Rasan al-Majali to return to Amman “as an expression of Jordan’s position of rejection and condemnation of the raging Israeli war on Gaza, which is killing innocent people and causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”
Jordan also asked Israel’s Foreign Ministry to tell Ambassador Rogel Rachman, who was temporarily called back to Israel because of security threats in Jordan, not to return to Amman.