Tonight begins Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. Observant (and even many not-so-observant) Jews spend the day in synagogue, praying for forgiveness.
In Judaism, repentance involves regretting having committed the sin, and resolving not to commit that sin in the future.
Now I don’t know about you, but I am not getting sincere repentance vibes from this apology put out by Al Yazbek, the successful restaurants business owner who served up some antisemitism and terror support at an anti-Israel rally:
I am getting more “holy crap, my business is going down the crapper, so I better try mitigating the damage, albeit a few days after my actions went public and the sh*t hit the fan” vibes:
It comes as Nine Entertainment, the publisher of the Good Food Guide, said they could not recommend Yazbek’s Melbourne and Sydney restaurants.
They remained silent on Thursday but on Friday, told the Herald Sun: “After careful consideration Good Food Guide has decided to drop Nomad and Reine & La Rue from its Victorian and NSW Good Food Guides.
“We know this decision will affect the staff at these restaurants and that saddens us. But we feel in light of the recent news, we can’t recommend these venues to our readers.”
The annual guide last month dropped several venues owned by hospitality giants Swillhouse following seriously allegations of sexual assault.
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The fallout for the Nomad restaurant group continues to spiral with a high-profile restaurant lobby group moving to kick it out of its association.
The Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association, backed by hospitality heavyweights Chris Lucas and Neil Perry, told the Herald Sun it was moving to strip Nomad of its membership.
“There is no place in the hospitality industry for racism and anti-Semitism,” an ARCA spokesman said told the Herald Sun.
“The ARCA board has begun the process, per the ARCA constitution, to revoke Nomad’s membership.”
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Mr Yazbek’s actions has prompted a mass exodus of patrons, particularly among corporate Australia.
French champagne house G.H. Mumm has withdrawn its lucrative partnership with restaurant Reine & La Rue, the Herald Sun previously revealed.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs, law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, global financial services provider Morgan Stanley and Telstra have also canned bookings at the fine dining hotspot.
Also note the wording of his apology: “I apologise unequivocally for my actions at the demonstration on Sunday where I carried a sign that is deeply offensive to the Jewish community.” I assume he is referring to the Israel flag swastika sign. Which is significant, because (as a reminder) he was also seen with a flag very similar to Hizbullah’s, while laughing about it:
The backlash comes as new images emerge of the 56-year-old restaurateur holding a flag in the yellow and green colours of Hezbollah with a Ned Kelly-like figure holding a gun, with the words “the boys in green and gold will win”.
Several protesters at the rally in Hyde Park used images that appeared to be designed to skirt laws against displaying the insignia of the terrorist group.
“Clever, huh?” Mr Yazbek can be heard saying.
“The resistance is always evolving,” he added.
In a video captured by The Australian, Mr Yazbek is asked why he thinks it’s clever.
“It’s clever in and of itself,” he replies.
So sorry, Al, you know where you can stick your olive branch.
