Anti-Israel activists vandalised a restaurant in Portugal because its head chef participated in a food festival in Israel.
The perpetrators, who are believed to be activists for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, on Friday night spilled red paint on the façade of the Cantinho do Avillez restaurant in the northern city of Porto and posted signs on it reading: “Free Palestine,” “Avillez collaborates with Zionist occupation” and “Entrée: A dose of white phosphorus.”
The attack, which is rare in Portugal, followed picketing opposite the restaurant by BDS activists over the participation of chef Jose Avillez along with at least 11 other chefs from renowned dining establishments around the world in the Round Tables festival in Tel Aviv this month, which is sponsored by American Express.
Several other chefs participating in Round Tables have been targeted by BDS activists, including Stéphane Jégo, head chef of L’Ami Jean in Paris. Following picketing outside his bistro, he hit back at his critics last month, calling them on Twitter “an affliction [of] people who are, at best, misinformed, mix everything up or at worst biased and dishonest.”
