OUR COMMUNITY

A

fter several days of 
watching his social 
media newsfeeds 
fill up with antisemitic and 
anti-Israel posts after the lat-
est round of conflict between 
Israel and Hamas, Detroit-area 
restaurateur Jeremy Sasson 
took a pro-Israel stand on 
Facebook. 
On Friday, May 14, he com-
mented that Israel had the 
right to exist in peace. He also 
created a post with an Israeli 
flag captioned with the words 
“
Am Yisrael Chai — the Jewish 
people live.” 

The next morning, Sasson 
said his Facebook direct mes-
sage inbox “exploded” with 
hundreds of hateful antisemitic 
messages. Then, he said, about 
5,000 1-star reviews appeared 
on Yelp and Google about one 
of his restaurants, Townhouse 
Detroit, that alleged, among 
other things, that there were 
rats running around in the 
dining room and the chef had 
stuffed an Israeli flag into a 
patron’s steak. 
The ironic thing — The 
Townhouse Detroit has been 
closed for months for renova-
tions. 
Sasson also owns 
Townhouse in Birmingham 
and Prime + Proper in Detroit, 
as well as a California-inspired 
project to open by the end of 
2021. 
“I ended up with 500 direct 
message requests with messag-
es calling me a Zionist pig and 
that I was killing women and 
children,” said Sasson, who has 

family in Israel. “They 
threatened to kill my 
children and burn down my 
restaurant. In my 36 years, I 
have known there are people 
who are antisemitic, but I have 
never seen it at this scale.” 
Sasson said he got a call 
from the Detroit health depart-
ment from people calling in 
complaints of health violations. 
“They thought it was odd 
to get so many health com-
plaints about my restaurant 
because the city knows I was 
closed,” Sasson said. “However, 

as procedure, the health 
department had to call me 
to let me know that a formal 
complaint about rats is now on 
my restaurant’s record. Now, I 
must go through the process to 
expunge that. But it just goes 
to show you the aggression in 
today’s culture that [anti-Israel 
activists] have put out. 
“Then you see all the videos 
of violent acts transpiring in 
New York and Los Angeles 
by Palestinian activists going 
after Jews sitting outside in 
restaurants. You see who is 
the real aggressor. It’s not 
like there’s anybody in the 
Jewish community walking 

around looking to go after 
Palestinians.”
Yelp and Google have 
shut down the review 
comment sections for the 
restaurant and the incident 
is being investigated by 
the Detroit and Michigan 
State Police depart-
ments. Anti-Defamation 
League (ADL) Michigan 
Regional Director Carolyn 
Normandin said the orga-

nization has had conversations 
with the office of Michigan 
Attorney General Dana Nessel 
to classify this as a possible 
hate crime, though formal 
complaints have yet to be filed 
to the AG office by the ADL on 
Sasson’s behalf. 
“There are serious legal 
concerns I have about this inci-
dent,” said Normandin, who 
could not comment further on 
the issue.
Still, Sasson is hopeful and 
excited for this summer’s 
reopening of Townhouse 
Detroit and welcomes people 
of all backgrounds and view-
points to be his patrons. He is 

taking no threats lightly and 
will do everything he can to 
protect the jobs of his work-
ers and the well-being of his 
guests, he said. 
“I’m in the hospitality busi-
ness, and it’s my job to take 
care of people and make them 
feel good at any and all costs,” 
Sasson said. “I do this regard-
less of how someone feels 
about my faith or how they feel 
about a country where I have 
family. 
“I am ever more grateful for 
those who dine in my restau-
rants because I know these 
people carry no hatred in their 
hearts.” 

Anti-Israel activists target 
local restaurateur.
Under Attack

“THERE ARE SERIOUS LEGAL CONCERNS

I HAVE ABOUT THIS INCIDENT.”

— ADL MICHIGAN DIRECTOR CAROLYN NORMANDIN

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

16 | JUNE 3 • 2021 

children and burn down my 

Jeremy Sasson

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