A small group of Jew-hating thugs attacked Manny’s, a café and community center in the Mission District of San Francisco, in the early evening June 9. The attack came as the café was hosting a meeting on San Francisco city politics, one of many meetings held there.
The attackers busted two windows and spray-painted black and pink graffiti on the walls reading, “The only good settler is a dead one,” “F–k Manny” and more. Meeting participants called Manny Yekutiel, the café owner, who is Jewish. He rushed over and stayed as the meeting wrapped up. Then he and the café workers cleaned up, put a coat of paint over the damage, and closed up.
Later that night the attackers returned. They smashed their way inside the restaurant, covering the walls with more graffiti: “Death 2 Israel is a promise,” “Die Zio[nist],” “Intifada” and other Jew-hating threats.
This wasn’t the first time Manny’s has been targeted. A boycott against the store was launched shortly after Yekutiel posted celebrations of Israel on his personal Facebook page in 2019. He keeps books on Israel and Jewish history in the bookcases of the café, alongside other titles. “But this time,” Yekutiel told Mission Local, “it is more directed, and violent.”
Neighbors sprang into action to help. “Before I could even start cleaning up the damage, strangers from the neighborhood stopped what they were doing to help,” Yekutiel told the press. “A kind man named Jesus grabbed my paint bucket and started covering the first layer of graffiti without a word. The outpouring has been overwhelming.”
At a meeting organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council, which helped raise $200,000 for repairs at Manny’s, Yekutiel told the crowd, “We’re not going anywhere and I’m not going anywhere.”
Five days after the attack on Manny’s, a Jewish woman and her friend were assaulted in the Marina District by several men on the street while they were eating a snack on the curb after a night out. Alana Gans turned around when she heard someone behind her shouting “F–k the Jews” and “Free Palestine.” She identified herself as a Jew and asked them to stop. Six or seven men then knocked her to the ground, while her companion Jeremy was kicked and punched unconscious.
A worker at the Balboa Café across the street saw the assault and ran over to try to break it up. He was knocked to the ground and beaten.
Three of the attackers were caught and charged with assault. So far, one has been found guilty.