Anti-Israel protest (archive)
Anti-Israel protest (archive)Reuters

Anti-Israel activists vandalized a restaurant in Portugal because its head chef participated in a food festival in Israel, JTA reports.

According to the report, the vandals spilled red paint on the façade of the Cantinho do Avillez restaurant in the northern city of Porto and posted signs on it reading “Free Palestin,” and “Avillez collaborates with Zionist occupation”, among other things.

The incident took place on Friday night. The perpetrators are believed to be activists for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The attack, which is rare in Portugal, followed picketing opposite the restaurant by BDS activists over the participation of chef Jose Avillez along with at least 11 other chefs from renowned dining establishments around the world in the Round Tables festival in Tel Aviv this month, which is sponsored by American Express, according to JTA.

Among those criticized for attending a festival in Israel was top Parisian chef Stéphane Jégo, who was unfazed by the protesters and fired back at his critics, accusing them of dishonesty and discrimination.

Naming two of his accusers on Twitter, Jego wrote that they are “an affliction [hitting] people who are, at best, misinformed, mix everything up or at worst biased and dishonest.”

Jego, the head chef at L’Ami Jean in Paris, also retweeted a remark about BDS being illegal in France, where dozens of the movement’s activists have been convicted of incitement to discrimination due to their actions against Israel.

Robert Singer, CEO of the World Jewish Congress, condemned the BDS movement for the attack in Portugal.

“The BDS movement has shown its real face. They have proved to be no more than a group of vandals. This was an act of anti-Semitism. Targeting a chef in Portugal just because he took part in a festival in Tel Aviv is despicable,” Singer said in a statement quoted by JTA.

“These self-declared human rights activists are actually quite the opposite: They spread hatred, not human rights,” he added.