Burgertory boss Hash Tayeh is now claiming he “never said it was Zionists or Jews” behind the firebombing of his Caulfield store.
He is saying this because the perpetrators were arrested and – shock, horror – they were not Zionists, just very naughty boys.
Likely paid to do what they did as part of Melbourne’s “Tobacco Wars”:
The men accused of firebombing a Burgertory store were allegedly paid $20,000 to torch the Caulfield restaurant during what a magistrate says was a crime spree.
Mana has been charged with criminal damage by fire, robbery and car theft relating to the November 10 Burgertory fire, as well as criminal damage and car theft over a fire at a Bendigo tobacco store on January 29.
And as owner of EzyMart convenience stores, Tayeh had a target on his back.
But back to Mr Nothingburger’s claim. Is he telling the truth or serving up some porky pies with a side of fries?
I think you already know the answer.
After the arson, he clearly suggested it was a hate crime and tied it to his stance on the Hamas war on Israel:
Hash Tayeh, the Palestinian-Australian founder of Burgertory, said staff at his Caulfield restaurant had been previously threatened and told they “worked for a terrorist”, and he had attracted criticism online for attending pro-Palestine rallies in the CBD amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
—
Tayeh, who opened his Caulfield store three years ago, released a statement linking the fire to criticism of his public comments and social media posts about the Israel-Hamas conflict, which he said only advocated for a ceasefire and an end to the violence in the Middle East.
“Today’s arson attack will not waver my calling for peace and will not silence me,” Tayeh said in a statement.
“I am deeply troubled by the spread of rumours suggesting that we harbour antisemitic sentiments. I cannot stress enough that this could not be further from the truth.
“My participation in pro-Palestinian rallies was driven by a desire for peace and a ceasefire, not violence or division. I have lost 38 relatives in Palestine and I want the violence to stop.”
Police were quick to rule out this possibility, but Tayeh never retracted. And after furious Israel-haters planned to protest in the largely Jewish neighborhood of Caulfield after the firebombing, he did put out a video asking them not to protest – because it could make them look bad, not because he wasn’t claiming we were behind it.
After earlier reports that a protest was planned outside the destroyed fast-food outlet on Friday night, Tayeh had urged supporters not to gather at the store.
“There is no benefit to us protesting at the Caulfield store because some people out there will purposely try to bait you into doing the wrong thing or saying the wrong thing, and then they’ll use that against you,” he said in a statement on social media late. “We want peace.”
When an ally opened up a GoFundMe to help him rebuild the store (in itself problematic, assuming he was to receive insurance money), stating “Hash Tayeh an Australian-Palestinian has been subjected to a hate crime,” he said nothing to correct them.
Tayeh continued to suggest it was the work of “Zionists” despite the police statement it wasn’t, and, after police arrested the perpetrators, he released a video justifying why he had claimed it was a hate crime.
But there’s more. After his house was firebombed in April, he made the same suggestion.
And what makes this even worse? He was likely very aware – beyond what the police had said – that it had nothing to do with Jews or Zionists:
Yet he continued to fan the flames, like an employee at one of his burger stores.
So yeah, Tayeh is full of bull.
Kind of like when he says he would never engage in antisemitism:
