Foodbenders owner reiterates support for Palestine and welcomes peaceful debate
The spitting on me, threatening to burn down the store, attacking my daughter and calling her names, vandalizing and all the forms of threats we have come to experience daily are unacceptable and not welcome - regardless of your identity.
Toronto (QNN)- A new statement by Kimberly Hawkins, owner of Toronto eatery Foodbenders, reiterated her support for the Palestinian cause as well as all human rights causes.
In the statement, which was published on the official website of Foodbenders, Hawkins revealed that she was called a terrorist and she has been the target of an incitement campaign led by the far right Jewish Defense League (JDL) and the Zionist lobby.
“One woman came to spray paint the Star of David on the storefront window and door, all the while taunting me “call the police.” A reminder the police will not protect me”, she stated. “Others have come to disturb the peace, threaten violence and damage property. The far right Jewish Defense League (JDL) held a rally outside the store, intimidating the building tenants and picking fights with pedestrians. They even spray painted the symbol of a Jewish terrorist group in front of my store. My landlord was threatened with acts of vandalism and arson.”
Hawkins had already been a target of police harrasment, when Foodbenders sidewalk sign posts regarding Regis Kochanski-Paquet and the Not Another Black Life movement in Toronto.
Although of the very serious situation that has been putting Hawkins and her daughter in danger, the police did not do anything, allowing Zionist mobs to vandalize her property and even send death threats to Hawkins and everyone close to her.
Hawkins also noted that members of the JDL have been sharing fake screenshots and media posts to make it look like she said things that she did not. Her social media accounts have been also targeted in hacking attempts and “a new account spreading antisemitic tropes that is gaining followers called @foodbenderstoronto that is not me. Please do not follow it. Report it so we can get it taken down.”
Although of the dangers posed by the Zionist lobby and the biased coverage of the event by Canadian media, Hawkins reiterated her support for Palestine, noting that she never meant to generalize, asserting that the JDL and Zionist journalists were controlling the media. However, she was referring to her personal story with the police and the real life media-smearing of her company and character.
Finally, Hawkins stated that peaceful debate is always welcome.
“The spitting on me, threatening to burn down the store, attacking my daughter and calling her names, vandalizing and all the forms of threats we have come to experience daily are unacceptable and not welcome – regardless of your identity. However, if you want to talk through issues and work together peacefully for justice for all, then you are always welcome.”
