Groups calling for a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Center City Philadelphia, specifically those owned by CookNSolo, are facing strong criticism from state leaders. CookNSolo is a multimillion-dollar enterprise whose profits go towards supporting the “Go North Campaign” of the Jewish National Fund in Israel, which expands unlawful settlements. On boycott group’s website, they stated, “We also call for a boycott of CookNSolo because the company’s entire culinary empire is premised on the mission of using food and culture to promote the state of ‘Israel.’”
An Instagram post from another group, Philadelphia Bike On Your Left, promoted the event in Rittenhouse Square. It read: “Ride around Rittenhouse with us as we show these Zionist business owners that we see them for the disgusting human beings they are.” The post continued, “We’ll flag as many bikes as we can and show our solidarity with the Palestinian community and oppressed folk everywhere.“
This protest targets Jewish-owned businesses on November 8, which is the eve of the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” was when Nazi rioters vandalized and burned German Jewish businesses, synagogues, and homes. It marked a major escalation in the Nazi persecution of Jews.
The groups say the timing is a coincidence. While not accusing the protest organizers, we must be careful about planning events and in which way perception can manipulated to present a certain viewpoint that is not in support of the original message. Regardless, holding a protest against Jewish-owned businesses on this date sends the wrong message for those wanting to support Palestinian struggles, especially considering what happened in Germany in 1938.
What was the Kristallnacht?
On the morning of November 7, 1938, Herschel Feibel Grynszpan, a Polish-Jewish teenager who grew up in Germany, went to the German embassy in Paris and shot and killed German-Nazi diplomat Ernst von Rath.
He said he acted to avenge the Jewish people for what the Germans had done to them. In his pocket, he carried a postcard to his parents that read, “With God’s help. My dear parents, I could not do otherwise; may God forgive me. The heart bleeds when I hear of your tragedy and that of the 12,000 Jews. I must protest so that the whole world hears my protest, and that I will do. Forgive me.”
Two days later, on November 9, Hitler and other Nazi officials set the events of Kristallnacht in motion. Goebbels announced, “the Führer has decided that … demonstrations should not be prepared or organized by the Party, but insofar as they erupt spontaneously, they are not to be hampered.“
On the night of November 9-10, 1938, Nazis, paramilitary groups, and Hitler Youth carried out a series of pogroms, attacking Jewish communities, businesses, synagogues, and homes across Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. The violence was especially severe in Berlin and Vienna, where mobs of Hitler Youth and the Storm Troopers, attacked Jews in their homes and forced public humiliation. Synagogues burned, Jewish cemeteries were desecrated, and shattered glass from vandalized businesses covered the streets, giving rise to the name “Night of Broken Glass.” (Kristallnacht is German)
Police were told to seize Jewish archives from synagogues and community offices, and to arrest and detain “healthy male Jews, who are not too old” for later transfer to labor concentration camps.
Estimates of the number of people killed range from 91 to as many as 638. Kristallnacht was the prelude to the Final Solution and the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust.
The Real Enemy is Monopoly Capital
It may have been an ill-informed coincidence; mainstream media certainly reported on the issue and reported on local officials who condemned the November 8, 2026, protest as an intentional anti-Semitic attack. Unfortunately, many people, even so-called Leftists, are not aware of the events of Kristallnacht. Looking further into the group, Philly Bike On Your Left, Philly Writers Against the War on Gaza, Boycott CookNSolo, and Philly Solidarity Calendar have organized other events supporting Palestinian solidarity that do not seem to be anti-Jewish.
“We call for a boycott because the owners materially and ideologically support the ongoing occupation and genocide of Palestinians,” Boycott CookNSolo, which is named for the restaurant chain owned by Israeli American celebrity chef Michael Solomonov, said. “Profits from their enterprises and from their fundraising efforts have been used to fund the occupation and to support pro-genocide interest groups in the U.S. and ‘Israel.’”
Whether the date for the protest boycotting pro-Zionist restaurants was chosen on purpose on the eve of Kristallnacht or not, it’s unclear how a boycott targeting restaurants will bring an end to the unlawful occupation. The goal should be to target the monopolists, whether they are Zionists or not, that benefit from the divisions between working-class, non-Jewish and Jewish, and the Israeli companies that profit from the exploitation of both Jewish and Arab labor in the region.
UJPFO agrees that in order to support the Palestinian people, we must call to end of the unlawful occupation of Palestinians, and that continued genocide despite the year-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. At the same time, we understand the sensitive timing that many Jewish people see as a prelude to the horrific events of the Holocaust. It is an important day that we must recognize as our own government, from the Trump Regime, has shown a similar indicator towards fascism with the unlawful ICE raids.