Restaurateur apologises for offensive anti-Israel sign
A high-profile restaurateur has apologised for displaying a swastika on an anti-Israeli protest placard, saying his Jewish friends know he is not anti-Semitic.
Alan Yazbek Image: X
The co-owner of the Nomad Restaurant Group, Al Yazbek, was pictured holding a sign bearing the symbol during a pro-Palestine rally in Sydney on Sunday.
It included the words “stop Nazi Israel” and bore the colours of the Israeli flag.
The 56-year-old was later charged with knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol without reasonable excuse, and is due to face court later in October.
The NSW offence carries a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison, or an $11,000 fine.
He was also photographed holding a flag in the colours of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is a listed terrorist organisation in Australia.
But after a public and hospitality industry backlash, Yazbek on Friday said he apologised unequivocally for carrying a sign that was “deeply offensive to the Jewish community”.
“Friends and acquaintances who know me – both Jewish and gentile – know that I am not an anti-Semite,” he said in a statement.
Yazbek added he had been traumatised every day by the ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East.
“Within Israel, in Palestine and now in Lebanon. We must make it stop,” he said.
“To the wider Jewish community, and in particular my Jewish friends, staff and guests of Nomad both past and present, I offer an olive branch of peace and love.”
Sydney restaurateur Al Yazbek has apologised for his offensive anti-Israel placard at a protest. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
Yazbek’s company operates the critically acclaimed Nomad restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne, where it also owns the French-themed Reine & La Rue.
The Sydney protest on Sunday drew thousands of participants despite police going to court to block a permit for organisers, a legal bid that was shelved after a compromise was arranged over the march’s route.
It came a day before the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel, which left about 1200 people dead and 250 taken hostage.
The counter-attack by Israel’s military has killed at least 41,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.
So when you are traumatized you have to traumatize others with Nazi and Hezbollah symbols? Good grief. Well, an apology is at least a start at acting like a responsible adult. He should ALSO talk to publicly and loudly to those who DON’T “know” that he isn’t antisemitic, because his actions have contributed to the poison that is making people act horribly towards Jews and Israel because “everyone is doing it”.
WITHOUT REASONABLE EXCUSE??? WTF does
That mean? WOKE is getting CRIMINALLY INSANE ..
“…To the wider Jewish community, and in particular my Jewish friends, staff and guests of Nomad both past and present, I offer an olive branch of peace and love.”…
Really ?? and you do that with the sign of a swaztika and the waving of a hisbollah flag???
I hope with all my heart that your “” jewish friends”” see who you really are and for ever avoid your restaurant and company for that matter.. What a vomit inducing display of “””friendship””” that is !
Too little too late!
Not good enough. If he is smart enough to own/manage a restaurant, he is not really that ignorant to know the motives and intentions of his actions.
Marta Mikey Frid
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