Philly Jew-Haters Demand Jewish Businesses ‘Must Go’ On Eve of Kristallnacht Anniversary

An antisemetic mob plans to rally in Philadelphia on November 8, the eve of the Kristallnacht anniversary, targeting Schlesinger’s Delicatessen and other Jewish-owned businesses. Its flyer calls them “zio businesses” and declares they “must go.” Historian Rafael Medoff asks whether Philadelphia’s leaders will speak out against the targeting of Jewish merchants or stay silent.

The Nazi inspired bicycle “boycott ride” in Philly on November 98th, past six restaurants and shops, including Schlesinger’s Deli and Goldie, on the eve of the Kristallnacht anniversary. The organizers’ flyer declares, “These Zionist establishments must go.” Four Jewish organizations called the campaign “Jew-hatred, plain and simple,” urged city and state leaders to condemn it, and asked Philadelphians to show their support by patronizing the targeted businesses.

Chills the blood.

Cleveland Jewish News: Philadelphia anti-Israel groups are planning a bicycle ride targeting Jewish-owned businesses on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the 1938 Nazi-orchestrated pogrom against Jews in Germany and Austria.

The “Boycott Ride,” organized by Philly Bike On Your Left in collaboration with Philly Writers Against the War on Gaza, Boycott CookNSolo and Philly Solidarity Calendar, is scheduled for Nov. 8 at 11:30 a.m. at Rittenhouse Square in the heart of Center City. A flier promoting the event states, “No business for Zionists,” adding, “These Zionist establishments must go

OP-ED: Targeting “Zionist” Pastrami

By Rafael Medoff, November 4, 2026:

On the eve of the anniversaries of two of the most notorious outbursts of antisemitism in modern times, pro-Palestinian activists in Philadelphia are organizing a rally to demand the expulsion of Jewish businesses from the city.

Among the main targets of the protest is Schlesinger’s Delicatessen, a popular eatery in the center of Philadelphia. Family patriarch Joseph Schlesinger opened his first deli, in neighboring New Jersey, in 1930.

What does a pastrami on rye have to do with Israel or Gaza? Nothing, of course—unless you’re a Jew-hater, in which case every Jew and every Jewish-owned business makes you see red.

The leaflet advertising the protest calls Schlesinger’s Deli and other Jewish-owned establishments “zio businesses” and demands that “they must go!”

The slur “zio” is a recently-invented synonym for “Jew.” It was coined by white supremacists on the far right, and has been adopted by pro-Palestinian Jew-haters on the far left, such as “Philly Writers Against the War on Gaza,” the organizers of the upcoming rally.

The timing of the rally is notable. It will take place on November 8, the day before the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht, when Nazi-organized mobs rampaged throughout Germany, murdering Jews, burning down synagogues and attacking Jewish stores and homes.

The name of that nationwide pogrom refers to the shattering of the windows of thousands of Jewish-owned shops. The amount of broken glass equalled one-half the entire annual production of Belgium’s sheet-glass industry, from which it was imported.

The other relevant anniversary is the adoption by the United Nations of the infamous Zionism-is-racism resolution, on November 10, 1975.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Chaim Herzog (father of Israel’s current president) said it was “fitting” that the resolution “should come up for debate on this day [the anniversary of Kristallnacht] which recalls one of the tragic days in one of the darkest periods of history…which led eventually to the crematoria and the gas chambers.”

The resolution was “an abomination of anti-Semitism,” US ambassador Daniel P. Moynihan said, warning: “A great evil has been loosed upon the world.”

Today, that evil has been loosed upon the world again, and extremists such as the Philadelphia activists for Gaza are embracing and promoting it. In the 1930s, mainstream political leaders remained silent in the face of such evil. Will today’s political leaders—in Philadelphia and beyond—repeat that tragic mistake, or will they speak out against the hate?