A shawarma shop in Tel Aviv sparked outrage on social media after it was caught continuing to operate during the siren on the eve of Remembrance Day on Monday.
The restaurant, ASK Donor located on Dizengoff St., was photographed by Tel Aviv resident Omer Gershon, who wrote on Facebook that the restaurant was continuing to sell food while the siren which marks a moment of silence was sounded.
“Who are you disgusting café that you feel the need to be open on the eve of Remembrance Day? And who are you repulsive people who don’t bother to stand for a minute at the siren and continue to sit and eat and b*%#@%$#?” wrote Gershon.
Gershon stressed that he was not trying to incite against the business and was just expressing how hurtful it was to see people sitting “and not bothering to take a minute from their lives to respect the memory of the fallen.”
MODERN DIZENGOFF Square, 2020. (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
The post went viral after journalist Sivan Cohen Saban shared it on Twitter, writing “even if this is the last place that offers water, my foot will never enter this place.”
After the post began spreading, some social media users began claiming that it was fake, publishing a video they claimed showed the restaurant closed at the time. The video was later revealed to be from a different time. The owners of the restaurant additionally claimed at first that shop was closed and the claims about it were fake, but they later admitted that the shop remained open during the siren, according to Israeli media.
Restaurant receives NIS 730 fine for staying open during Remembrance Day siren
Gershon shared a photo of the NIS 730 fine the restaurant received which states that the fine was issued because the business remained open on the eve of Remembrance Day.
On the eve of Remembrance Day, shops, restaurants and entertainment venues across Israel close from about 7 p.m. until about 6 a.m. the next morning.
In response to the restaurant’s remaining open during the siren, internet users began filling the restaurant’s profile on Google Maps with negative reviews, lowering its rating to a 1.3-star rating. The restaurant is located just 500 ft away from where three people were murdered in a terrorist shooting attack last year.