The location is nondescript and high-profile at the same time, located in the shadow of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway viaduct on the edge of Sunnyside, near a Roman Catholic cemetery. Being close to two highways, it is easily accessible to taxis, trucks, and delivery van drivers stopping at Gaza Deli and Grill for a snack. They are greeted by murals of a woman in a keffiyeh next to the Dome of the Rock, flanked by two child angels, with the words “Save Gaza Free Al Aqsa.”
Last week, the political-themed corner store was profiled in the New York Post, nearly a year after the Queens Courier broke the story, in which owner Bilal Alghazali explained the renaming of AAA Deli Grocery & Grill after the Hamas stronghold.
“Gaza has stood strong and hasn’t given up; neither will I give up speaking up for my people,” Alghazali said last June. “No amount of money, threats, or censorship can stop me.” As his mother is Palestinian, he identifies with the aspirations of his people for international recognition and spoke of being arrested by Israeli soldiers in September 2023 while waving a Palestinian flag during a visit to his relatives in the West Bank. This experience and the war that began a month later solidified Alghazali’s advocacy for Gaza, a feeling shared by most Arab Americans.
When the New York Post sent reporters to the shop, it quoted a survivor of the Nova festival massacre and a director of the group End Jew Hatred, with the story titled, “Queens bodega named ‘Gaza Deli and Grill’ ignites fear among Jewish New Yorkers.”
On multiple social media platforms, the title was ridiculed for exaggerating fears of anti-Semitism, with comments claiming that allegations of antisemitism were being used to silence Palestine supporters. With so much actual anti-Semitism taking place in the context of the Gaza war, the New York Post’s story on the Gaza Deli is at best a clickbait distraction and, at worst, harming efforts to combat this form of hate. I do not take comfort from people who ridicule Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s religion or name, as their insults distract from the very real threats to our safety posed by his policies.
Advocates of Jewish security have plenty of work to do in mobilizing voters ahead of the November election, scrutinizing lesson plans in public schools and colleges, documenting anti-Semitic incidents, and combating anti-Israel legislation, rather than lending their voices to a story about a mural on private property.
Although I reported in January about a former coworker who defaced an anti-Semitic mural in Milwaukee, facing arrest and trial, he knew of the risk to his freedom and felony charges for damaging private property, which depicted a swastika inside a Magen David.
I am more concerned about a city-owned community garden in Ridgewood that openly discriminates against supporters of Israel, whether the Mamdani administration would make the Celebrate Israel Parade too costly and unsafe to take place, and whether businesses and nonprofits that support Israel would be subjected to boycott and enforcement actions by the city.
As the mural is concerned, freedom of expression allows for it. Likewise for the huge Palestinian flag facing the southbound Gowanus Expressway in Sunset Park and the “genocide” posters on the window of King of Falafel in Astoria. They have the same protection by law as the Israeli flags flying atop Bagels & Co. in Fresh Meadows. Considering the appearance of taking a position, the MTA has a policy against political advertising on its subways and buses. Privately-owned billboards also assume a risk of backlash when they have contracts with groups such as JewBelong, which is known for thought-provoking slogans on a bright background. “Can a billboard end anti-Semitism? No. But you’re not a billboard,” is one such example.
Another group on the visibility front is Artists 4 Israel, who paint murals in support of the Jewish state. In January 2024, a rooftop was painted in bright blue, with capital letters inscribed “Bring Them Home Now!” Its intended audience is airline passengers using the city’s two airports as they fly above Brooklyn.
“Airports represent homecoming in the most basic and fundamental way,” Artists 4 Israel CEO Craig Dershowitz said at the time. “Our biggest prayer and hope is that these hostages are soon returned to Israel and are able to hug their families again. We hope travelers will remember them when they come home off their flights to meet their own loved ones.” He noted that a rooftop would be much more difficult to deface by opponents of Israel.
In the city’s hip neighborhoods, lampposts and walls are covered almost entirely in stickers advertising food, music, art, and political views. Responding to anti-Israel content, Hatikvah Sticker Collective arose with a creative response. Its stickers can be downloaded and printed by anyone, with examples such as “Keep Calm and Fight Anti-Semitism” under a Jewish star in place of a crown.
“The Hatikvah Collective is a global movement with international branches across the United States, Israel, Canada, Spain, Denmark, New Zealand, and the UK,” the group writes in its statement. “Through this new form of mass-produced Jewish street art, the collective is not just reshaping public spaces; it is forging a new kind of Jewish public citizen who asserts his presence, refuses erasure, and understands that art itself is an act of resistance.”
Staten Island muralist Scott LoBaido also comes to mind, best known for painting flags across that borough, along with paintings, sculptures, and unauthorized street art promoting President Trump and the Republican Party. The self-described “creative patriot” recognizes that the city’s art scene favors politically liberal themes, which is why his galleries are the walls, lawns, and sidewalks visible to any member of the public.
For murals that are on street level, security cameras are a must. Like the mural in Milwaukee, the wall at Gaza Deli has security cameras should anyone feel inspired to deface it. I’ve often said that Israeli flags, stickers for hostages, and Chabad menorahs in public spaces have a secondary function as mousetraps, leading to the identification and arrests of anti-Semitic individuals damaging them.
As the war in Gaza continues, we should not expect the owner of Gaza Deli to understand our historical claim to “Al Aqsa,” nor change the minds of most New Yorkers who intend to vote for Mamdani. Contrary to the New York Post story title, we can assert our visibility in society using the same tools as our enemies. Taking your personal security into consideration, your window, wall, rooftop, car, and clothing can serve as a banner of support for Israel.
By Sergey Kadinsky
