Philadelphia Jewish leaders encouraged by counter-response to 'boycott bike ride'

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

53% : But thanks to communal organizing among dozens of Jewish, pro-Israel and interfaith groups, it was met with an estimated 200 counter-protesters -- plus hundreds more who turned up, waiting in hours-long lines, to patronize the affected businesses.
51% : In its rhetoric and conflation of Jewish- and Israeli-owned businesses with the state of Israel, the bike boycott seemed like a perfect storm of the biggest Jewish concerns with pro-Palestinian protests.
48% : Allan Domb, the owner of Schlesinger's Deli, told the local CBS affiliate that he believed his business was on the list because he had donated to the local federation after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel.
48% : The local Democratic Socialists of America chapter, which had initially promoted the event, said in a statement on Sunday that it "did not and does not endorse the bike ride on Sunday, 11/8."
47% : Among the groups that did support the ride were Faculty for Justice in Palestine chapters at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania; the local Students for Justice in Palestine chapter; a pro-Palestinian group of Temple law students; and Writers Against the War on Gaza, a literary activist group that previously helped upend leadership at the free-speech organization PEN America over Israel-related statements and actions.
46% : "When 'Zionist' can cover almost any Jew who has ever expressed even a modicum of sympathy or support for Israel, Jewish business owners are facing a test no one else does: disavow Israel or lose your livelihood," a statement from the group reads, adding that the organizing groups' rhetoric "has also crossed the line.
36% : "You want to boycott something going on in Israel, we're not that far from DC or New York.
26% : The Nexus Project, an antisemitism watchdog that has criticized what it says is Jewish communal overreach in describing some criticism of Israel as antisemitic, also criticized the ride and its organizers.
11% : Pennsylvania Sens. John Fetterman, a pro-Israel Democrat, and Dave McCormick, a Republican, had also condemned the ride.

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