A beloved falafel restaurant in Astoria has been getting sha-warmed by Saudi loyalist trolls in response to its owner’s criticism of the crown prince.
King of Falafel & Shawarma, a restaurant with a brick-and-mortar site at 30-15 Broadway and food trucks in Manhattan and Astoria, got over 37,000 scathing one-star reviews within a span of 30 hours earlier this week, according to its owner, Freddy Zeideia.
Zeideia said the reviews came from trolls who targeted KOFS after @Columbuos, a pro-Saudi social media account, shared a video of the restaurant’s social-distancing sidewalk decal with pictures of Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, and an invitation to step on their faces.
The KOFS patron who originally filmed the video made an inflammatory attack on the people of Saudi Arabia in Arabic after entering the restaurant, according to a translation of the video that a Saudi Arabian Twitter user posted online.
The pro-Saudi influencer shared a link to the restaurant’s Google page and encouraged his followers to give it a one-star rating.
Zeideia, who is originally from the Israel-occupied Palestinian West Bank, has not shied away from openly displaying his political beliefs. In response to the Israel-Hamas violence in May, he displayed a Palestinian flag in the front window.
Earlier in the summer, he installed a similar floor decal with Andrew Yang’s face after the mayoral hopeful pledged solidarity with Israel in the conflict.
The floor piece that upset the influencer was aimed at criticizing the Saudi Arabian-led war in Yemen and the UAE’s military intervention in Libya’s civil war. Zeideia said that the trolls were also aggrieved that he had posted a Pride flag honoring the LGBTQ awareness month of June.
Contacted by the Chronicle last Friday morning, Zeideia was remarkably unflustered by the attacks on his business.
“I’m not gonna stress myself. I know my Astoria. I know my people out here and they know who we are. We’ve been serving them for the last 20 years,” he said.
7 comments:
Does he not realize that the murdering Crown Prince is a very good buddy of the Orange
Orangutan ?
He’s Anti- Semitic - no wonder I never wanted to eat @ his greasy kabob stand! Astoria is no place for Hatred
Trolls vs. Trolls
Why is this news in NYC?
"Israel occupied Palestinian West Bank?" I don't patronize anti Israel, anti Jewish businesses. That's one way to handle their propaganda. Aren't there enough Jewish owned falafel joints in NYC?
This must be National Trolls Day to get the above poster so excited.
He can put his kabobs where the sun don’t shine - not spending one dollar not one dime at his cholesterol laden greasy spoon. He’s an Anti Semite
@NoBalls.
Everyone is an Anti Semite nowadays. Hey, Israel has a crappy soccer team. Oops, I must be an anti Semite.
"But the land is so dry is Israel". Shaddup you Anti Semite.
"I don't like Jaffa Oranges". Oh, that's because you are an Anti Semite. "Benjamin Netanyahooooo is a Fascist". Oh, you only think that because you are an Anti Semite.
"Israel is an apartheid nation". Stop stating the obvious you anti semite.
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