A popular Upper West Side restaurant that proudly displays its support for Israel has been vandalized multiple times – leaving the owner wary when someone steps through the door.
Gazala Halabi, a member of Israel’s fiercely patriotic Druze community, told Side Dish someone scrawled “Free Palestine” in her restaurant’s bathroom on Monday — the second time the eatery has been hit with graffiti.
That latest incident followed the restaurant’s front door getting shattered after Israel began its war with Hamas following the Oct. 7 massacre, she said.
Halabi’s restaurant, Gazala’s at 447 Amsterdam Ave., may be the only Druze restaurant in New York City and the country at large, serving traditional dishes like hummus, and signature bourekas and mankosha.
Israeli and Druze flags stand at the front of Gazala’s.
That has led some Palestinian supporters to walk out once they spot the flag or leave when they look at the menu and see Israel listed on the map of the Middle East, she said.
“One couple yelled at the waiter, ‘Tell your owner that Israel has no right to exist!’” Halabi said.