UWS Israeli Restaurant Owner Says Pro-Palestinians Harassed Shop’s Employees

A group of protesters in support of Palestine cursed the employees at a popular Upper West Side restaurant once they realized it was an Israeli-owned restaurant, the restaurant’s owner told the West Side Spirit in an exclusive interview.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinians gathered outside of the American Museum of Natural History on Dec. 2nd where they threw smoke bombs at the entrance when they were not permitted in. Later, they made their way to Times Square where one of the protestors got violent and walked away with a bloody face when a few onlookers started yelling at the protestors.

When the crowd dispersed sometime around 6 p.m., a group of one male and two females group went inside Gazala’s, a restaurant owned by

Marco Cruz, 35, was the waiter attending the group when the incident occurred. He seated the group and took note of one of them wearing a Palestine flag as he was bringing them water. Then, the male proceeded to ask what kind of restaurant Gazala’s is. Once Cruz told them that is is an Israeli restaurant, the would-be patron shot out of his seat and yelled, “What the f**k? What am I doing here?”

The group collectively started shouting in Arabic and some words in English. One of the females said, “We need to get out of here right now.” As one of the females jumped up, they purposely dumped their cup of water on the table, stormed out of the restaurant yelling in Arabic, and slammed the door.

“It was crazy. I have been working there (Gazala’s) for the last five years and nothing like this has ever happened,” said Cruz. “Of course I was scared. I didn’t feel safe in that moment.”

Halavi was not there when this occurred, but was later relayed the information by Cruz.

This was the first confrontation, Halavi said, since the Oct 7 Hamas attack and the ensuing war that Israel is waging in Gaza. There have been other instances where customers have walked out of Gazala’s once they hear Hebrew music playing or see “Druze Israel” on the menu.

Since October 7, when the first attack occurred against Israel and Israel retaliated, Halavi said she had she noticed a 40 percent decrease in sales.

But she does not think it is a boycott so much as many of her loyal customers are maintaining a lower profile as pro-Palestinian protests are far more numerous than demonstrations supporting Israel. ”The Jews are scared right now and aren’t going out as much,” said Halavi. “Every time something happens in the middle east, it affects us...and I am pro-Israel 100 percent.”

Apart from the pandemic, in 2015 Gazala’s experienced a drop in sales, while overseas Palestine and Israel were attacking each other, causing casualties on both sides.

When the Oct. 7th attack happened, Halavi was in Israel. “My mom wasn’t feeling well so I went to go visit. I have two kids here and they were freaking out. It was a nightmare,” she said. “I was born in Israel, it’s not good to say, but you get used to the attacking and bombing. This time I felt really scared.”

Halavi first arrived in New York in 2001 and opened her restaurant, selling traditional Israel cuisines in 2007. Now a mother and business owner, she has been living in the Upper West Side for more than 20 years and describes it as her home.

“I am very angry,” Halavi states when talking about the Israel and Hamas war. “I am angry that the world doesn’t see the picture the way they’re supposed to see it. The worst feeling is someone attacking you in your home.”

When dealing with these types of incidents, provoking aggression, Halavi has advised her employees to stay quiet and let her deal with it.

“I am usually very warm, but if somebody comes in cursing like that again I will kick them out. I will act.”

NYPD officials were not called that night

Halavi was experiencing severe back pain and thought that this one just be one of my incidents reported on that night.

Although violence in New York has been minimal, the Palestinian side has been calling for a permanent cease fire as the civilian death toll mounts with over 14,000 dead. There are also over 130 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack that started the conflict when over 1,200 civilians were killed in southern Israel. In New York, there has been a rise in hate crime incidents against Muslims, Jews and Arabs, although the NYPD said there have been far more incidents reported against Jewish people

Although the NYPD has had their hands full monitoring the protests and demonstrations on all sides, Halavi believes she should have reported the incident in her restaurant when she first heard about it from her employee.

With this in mind, Halavi came into work the following Sunday with an Israeli flag on her back, resembling a cape because she heard talk of another Palestine protest that ultimately did not take place.

“I usually don’t like to involve business with politics, but it was very personal to me...(since the attack on Oct. 7th) the west side is not the same.”