Jewish Londoners branded ‘f***ing baby killers’ thrown out of restaurant as fellow diners ‘jeer and applaud’

One of them tried to take down a sticker that said, “Boycott Israeli apartheid” and was spotted by a waitress.

Lobb then asked co-owner Sofia Vassilas about the couple’s apparent interest in Israel and Gaza.

“I said to the female owner, ‘Why have you got posters only about this? What about Sudan? What about what’s happening in Afghanistan? What about the Yazidis? It can only be because you are obsessed with the world’s only Jewish state.”

Within seconds, co-owner Giannis, approached the group and allegedly ordered them to “Get the f*** out of my restaurant”, Lobb claimed.

She added that Giannis shouted so other diners could hear: “They are Zionists! Zionists!”

As the families left, some of the other diners jeered at them, Lobb said.

“That was the most awful thing about it, they were clapping and jeering at us to go. couldn’t believe what was happening.”

Lobb’s friend, Nicola Gee, 50, who was dining with her husband and two daughters, along with the two other families said: “It was that public humiliation which was the most shocking thing. The other customers were shouting at us too to get out. It was like we had yellow stars … imprinted on us. That’s how it made me feel.

“We got up and started running out. They followed us and were still screaming at us.”

Giannis then allegedly followed the group to the car park, along with several diners, shouting that they were “killing f***ing babies” and “support this genocide”.

He also apparently locked the car park’s gates and insisted they pay for their meal before they left, despite chasing them out of the premises before they had finished their main course.

Gee said: “One of my daughters was really upset and she tried to speak to the owner about the hostages – she asked him if he knew about Ariel and Kfir Bibas … He didn’t, he was just ignorant. She tried to ask him if he knew what a Zionist was, and again, he didn’t seem to know.

“They didn’t care about any facts. When I asked them why this war was the only war they cared about, he couldn’t answer why. We spend our whole lives learning about the history of antisemitism but to have something like this happen was just awful.”

She added: “They were even shouting at the kids. Our teenagers were very calmly trying to ask, ‘Why are you calling us baby killers?’ And they were screaming, ‘Yes, you are baby killers and genocide lovers.’ They were swearing at us and it was all very chaotic.”

Gee said she was concerned this type of scenario could become a new normal for Jewish people as the Israel-Hamas war continues: “I’ve got friends who are posting hatred about Israel consistently, and they don’t realise that a lot of what they are writing is false. That is why it is essential that we stand up to it. it is important they can see what their posting is leading up to. It is spreading hatred and filtering into a little Greek taverna.”

The restaurant’s owners said: ‘Everything was fine until someone from the group decided to act to tear apart a small sticker that read, ‘Boycott Israel apartheid’, a statement that refers obviously to the appalling situation in Gaza. That waitress who saw it told this person that he has no right to do it since it is private property.

They continued: “One of the women from the group reacted quite intensely to our political public opinion about the genocidal practices and policies of the Israeli government. She started yelling and shouting and accused us of being racist against Jews in general and that [our] food is terrible.

“We called her [a] Zionist supporter of war crimes and also added that we are in support of the thousands of Israeli people who demonstrate almost every day against the fascist Israeli government's policies and the hundreds of thousands of Jews all over the world who condemn these atrocities.

They added: “Just to clarify, in our 26 years of operation, we have often made public statements in the restaurant on local issues. We frequently have been targeted for this but we strongly believe it is our right to do so. If one does not like this, they are free not to come, or [to] criticise us in a polite manner but when someone is aggressive and disrespectful to us and other employees and other customers (who applauded their departure) I think we have every right and reason to ask them to leave.”