The owner of an Ethiopian-Israeli restaurant in Harlem says she has been forced to close her establishment for regular dining due to alleged harassment and antisemitism.
Beejhy Barhany, owner of the Tsion Cafe, told the New York Post that hate directed at her restaurant intensified after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which prompted the country’s war with Hamas. Barhany also told the outlet that the alleged hate and harassment have left her “demoralized.”
“I answered the phone once at the restaurant and the caller said, ‘You dirty Jew. We should erase you from the map,’” Barhany said.
“I am demoralized and heartbroken that there are so many bigots out there. It’s mind blowing. We can’t handle the burden anymore,” she continued. (RELATED: 2 Dead After South Carolina State University Shooting Plunges School Into Lockdown)
Barhany said she has been forced to close her restaurant for regular dining and now offers only group bookings made in advance, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s Jewish Week. She has reimagined her business as a place for experiences that are culturally immersive.
Barhany told Jewish Week she experienced even more animosity when she removed meat from her menu to go fully vegan and kosher in February 2024.
“I was proud to be Jewish. I wanted to illuminate that,” she said. “But from the moment we pivoted to be kosher, it became worse and worse.”
Barhany also recalled alleged comments made by a group of Gen-Z individuals passing through the city while one of her servers was standing outside.
“Don’t ever come to this place. It’s owned by Israelis. By Zionists,” they allegedly said.
Barhany was born in Ethiopia and spent three years in a refugee camp in Sudan before moving to Southern Israel, according to Jewish Week. She moved to the Kibbutz Alumim near the Gaza Strip when she was a teen, served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), traveled the world, and then settled in New York City in her early twenties. She opened the Tsion Cafe in 2014.
In addition, she is the “founder of the Beta Israel of North America Cultural Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering and celebrating the rich legacy of Ethiopian Jews,” according to her biography on the restaurant’s website.
Barhany shared a statement to the restaurant’s Instagram account on Feb. 12 thanking the community for its support and inviting respectful dialogue from potential opponents.
“We’re grateful for the love and support we receive–thank you. To those who feel distant from us or disagree, especially if we’ve never met: we invite you to keep an open heart, to learn–and if you’re willing–to engage in respectful conversation. You don’t have to agree with us to listen or be heard,” the statement read in part.
Upon learning that Barhany had to close her restaurant for regular dining due to harassment, the Jewish Community Relations Council filed formal complaints with Attorney General Letitia James and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s offices, asking them to open civil rights probes, according to the New York Post.
The Daily Caller contacted James and Mamdani’s offices, neither of whom immediately commented.