An antisemitic demonstration is planned in Philadelphia on November 8, the day before the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom, under the guise of a political boycott. Several pro-Palestinian organizations are organizing a bicycle ride that will pass six Jewish- and Israeli-owned businesses under the slogan: "There is no place for Zionist businesses in our city. These businesses must disappear."
Among the businesses targeted are establishments owned by American Jews who are not Israeli, singled out because of their owners' Jewish identity or support for Israel.
A closer look at the organizations behind the event reveals a network of radical activist groups that have operated in Philadelphia for several years. The initiative is being led by the cycling group Philly Bike On Your Left in cooperation with the Boycott CookNSolo campaign, which has targeted restaurants belonging to Israeli chef Michael Solomonov since 2023.
The campaign intensified after Solomonov and his business partner donated $100,000 to United Hatzalah, an Israeli emergency medical organization, following the October 7 massacre. Since then, activists have sought to boycott his restaurants and disrupt events in which he participates.
Another organization involved is Writers Against the War on Gaza, a network of media professionals, cultural figures and academics. On its official website, the organization expresses support for armed Palestinian resistance and calls for dismantling the Zionist project. Its statement of principles even refers to Yahya Sinwar as part of the legacy of Palestinian resistance.
The organization's Philadelphia chapter has previously held educational sessions on figures associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, including Ghassan Kanafani, who served as the organization's spokesman. This does not establish any active organizational connection to the PFLP, but it does shed light on the ideological background of the activists involved.
The connections between these groups are not new. As recently as September, members of Writers Against the War on Gaza and Boycott CookNSolo activists participated in a joint protest surrounding an Ed Sheeran concert in Philadelphia. Now they are cooperating in a campaign that publicly identifies Jewish-owned businesses and demands their removal from the city.
What makes the planned demonstration particularly disturbing is its timing: November 8, just one day before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the November 1938 pogrom in which Nazis attacked and destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses across Germany and Austria. There is no evidence that the date was deliberately chosen for its historical significance.
A synagogue destroyed on Kristallnacht
(Photo: Getty Images)
The planned event has already drawn strong condemnation from Pennsylvania Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick, as well as leading Jewish organizations. Philadelphia police are aware of the demonstration and say they are preparing for it.
Sacha Roytman, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), warned of the historical significance of the planned protest.
"We must understand what we are witnessing here. Eighty-eight years ago, Jewish shops in Europe were singled out, the public was urged to boycott them, and their owners were portrayed as enemies of society. Today, in 2026, we are once again seeing lists of Jewish-owned businesses and declarations that they must disappear from the city.
"The word 'Jews' has been replaced with 'Zionists,' but the method remains the same. Antisemitism does not begin with shattered windows. It begins with words, with targeting businesses, with boycotts and with turning the Jewish neighbor into an enemy," he said.
Nazi soldiers destroying Jewish stores on Kristallnacht
(Photo: Courtesy of Yad Vashem)
"This is not merely a political protest. It is organized antisemitism, and history has already taught us what can happen when a society allows hatred of Jews to become acceptable," he concluded.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday also condemned the event. "The planned bike ride boycott of Jewish-owned restaurants in and around Rittenhouse Square on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht is deeply unsettling. By explicitly targeting businesses because their owners are Jewish, the organizers are engaging in a form of discrimination that falls back on some of the oldest antisemitic tropes and tactics in history.
"This is not simply a protest directed at the policies of Israel, rather it singles out our fellow Pennsylvanians based on their Jewish identity, targeting them for policies they have nothing to do with and no ability to affect because of their faith," he wrote in a post on X.