By Lily Seltz
Open the menu at Ayat, a Bay Ridge-based Palestinian restaurant slated to expand to the Upper West Side this fall, and you will be met with one phrase written in Arabic, Hebrew, and English: “DOWN WITH THE OCCUPATION.” Inside the restaurant, olive trees, Palestinian flags, and keffiyeh patterns are the main motifs. Even the takeout bags bear an inscription: “Jewish, Muslim, Christian—whatever your belief is, we are all human, and we love you.”
“I think everything in life should be done with purpose,” owner Abdul Elenani, a lifelong Brooklynite, told the West Side Rag in a recent interview. At Elenani’s restaurants, the “purpose” goes beyond serving food or turning a profit.
“I’m not going to talk about the food. The food speaks for itself,” said Elenani. (Ayat serves a range of shareable Palestinian staples including falafel, baba ghanoush, and the lamb dish mansaf.) At Ayat, he said, “it’s more about…bringing people together.”
Regardless of their faith, Elenani said, guests come to Ayat to “[break] bread and [have] a good time together.” All Ayat locations are halal (which means, in part, that they don’t serve alcohol, although guests can bring their own). Seeing Jewish and Muslim guests sharing the Ayat space, Elenani said, “brings me peace and makes me happy.”
To Elenani, the spirit of interreligious and interethnic unity is not at cross-purposes with his goal of sending “a very bold, clear message [against] the occupation of Palestine.” Elenani has long sought to recognize and tend to the common ground between Jews and Arabs who support the Palestinian cause.
In January 2024, after the title of Ayat’s seafood menu section – “From the River to the Sea” – provoked controversy online, Elenani hosted a free Shabbat dinner and religious service at an Ayat location in Ditmas Park. More than 1,300 people showed up. (The seafood menu title has since been changed to “From the Rind to the Seed”—a less metaphorically coherent phrasing that appears to deliver the same message.)
Now that Ayat is opening a branch on the Upper West Side, a neighborhood with a significant Jewish population, Elenani says he plans to host a Shabbat dinner there. “Hopefully we’ll do it,” he said. “I’d love to recognize them, and recognize everything they’ve been doing for Palestine [and] for humanity.”
The Columbia University area has been a center of pro-Palestine activism in New York and nationwide since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. The following month, Columbia’s administration suspended the school’s chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine. The campus saw a series of pro-Palestine protests, as well as demonstrations in support of Israel; pro-Palestinian groups drew national media attention when police action broke up their campus encampments in April 2024 and their takeover of Butler Library in May 2025.
Ayat’s new branch will be located on Amsterdam Avenue in an area frequented by Columbia University students and faculty. Of the students, Elenani said: “If you want to protest, go ahead. We’ll fuel you guys with free meals.”
Elenani is hopeful that Ayat will receive a warm welcome on the Upper West Side; people in the neighborhood, he believes, are “understanding and…open-minded.” But he’s still bracing himself for backlash. Al Badawi, a Palestinian restaurant on the Upper East Side that Elenani co-owns, was broken into and vandalized shortly after its opening in 2023. And other Ayat locations have attracted “random, nonsense complaints, no matter what we do,” he said. To avoid harassment, Elenani plans to publicize Ayat’s new address only when construction is complete, likely by December.
Even as Elenani tries to shift attitudes toward Palestinians and Muslims in the U.S., he also feels an urgency to support relief efforts in Gaza. “Clean water is still a major crisis [there],” he said. Last month, Ayat partnered with Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza to raise and distribute over $25,000 to provide food and water supplies in Gaza. He also plans to restart a program from the spring that the restaurant says has already provided over 9,000 free meals to volunteers for Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign.
To Upper West Siders who remain skeptical of Elenani’s enterprise, the restaurateur recalled an Arabic phrase, “Ad-Deen Al-Mu’amalah” which he said roughly translates to “religion is in how well you treat others.”
“I’ll make them warm up to me,” Elenani said. “I will do my part as a person of my faith to make sure that I’m there to make people feel comfortable.”
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The food is amazing, looking forward to this opening. And just a reminder, criticism of Israel is not antisemitic and neither is advocating for the plight of Palestinian people under the occupation of Israel.
Calling for the destruction of the one Jewish state in the world IS antisemitic. Criticism of Bibi is NOT antisemitic. But y’all lost the plot.
What is the plot? Seems pretty clear after two years: eliminate all Palestinians and confiscate their homes and land. I abhor apartheid, segregation, or the occupation of land already occupied, by brutal settlers protected and encouraged by the Israeli government.
After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the Gazans had 20 years to make it a livable and stable place. Instead, they elected Hamas who diverted aid money to tunnel-building and bank accounts in Qatar where their leaders live in splendor.
Same rote answer…we see through your lie. Free palestine
Boris, you do not mention the restrictions on movement, of people and goods, into and out of Gaza enforced by Israel, you do not mention the restriction on food and medical resources enforced by Israel,, you do not mention the Israeli policy of “Mowing the Lawn’ meaning the killing of hundreds of Gaza Palestinians , to keep the entire population in a state of controlled terror. When UN spokespeople declared that was not a livable place they made clear that it was Israel that was causing those conditions, not Hamas. Withdrawal of the illegal Jewish ‘settlers’ was not an end of occupation, or its responsibilities. No, Boris. Hamas did a good job helping Gaza’s people and the people of Gaza realized this, that is why, in an internationally supervised election, they voted for Hamas.
Actually, they elected Hamas because the Gazans thought Fatah was corrupt and not helping them. So Hamas was sort of the equivalent to Americans reelecting Trump — if you’re unhappy, any alternative is better than the one you have now. There were supposed to be regular elections, but Hamas made sure that didn’t happen again. And yes, at the time of Hamas’s election, their original founding charter about with the clause about killing all the Jews was still very much in effect. They knew.
Not every Palestinian is a member of, or even supports, Hamas. So you are painting with an enormously broad brush.
“From the River to the Sea” is a call for the conquest and elimination of Israel. That’s not a critique of government policies. It’s an attack against the very existence of the only Jewish state in the world. That’s antisemitism.
It is used by some Palestinian groups to call for a single secular or democratic state where all people have equal rights.
Not every Palestinian is a member of, or even supports, Hamas. So you are painting with an enormously broad brush.
no, it’s not. That’s a call for equality. Israel is committed to the opposite of that – apartheid.
Also – Palestinians are Semites as well
And it’s also a slogan that Netanyahu has used, but he wasn’t talking about equality, he was talking about ethnic cleansing.
Then , even more extremist Israel Jews are referring to not the Jordan River but the Tigris and Euphrates.
How about advocating for the plight of the Palestinian people under the occupation of Hamas?
Rarely does one hear this, thank you so much. If this were heard more often by what’s now come to be called the pro-palis , not to mention remembering that there are 50 barely alive and unalived hostages, I have hope that there would be way less strife especially here in the US. How can there be a common goal without this I just don’t know and it’s depressing beyond belief. Even when I recognize the suffering of Gazans to the pro-palis faces they will not listen to what I am referencing above. It feels like there is zero will for any shared solution if it contains the word hostages. Today is day 686? 687? Where are the sane conversations?
Good point.
I was with him until the free food for protesters. Do you know where else was vandalized? Effy’s Cafe on 96th St just for being Israeli, by the same people he wants to give free food to.
In fact you have no idea who vandalized that cafe. My guess is some local youth who also spray paint things around there on a regular basis
Just because it was “some youth” (as most of the vandals are) doesn’t excuse the behavior. The spraypainted slogans made it abundantly clear what it was for.
Do you have a list of the names of these people, or would you simply recognize them on sight, having been an eyewitness to the vandalism? Either way, perhaps you should should report this to the NYPD if you haven’t done so already; they’ll be grateful for your vigilance, possibly even more so than we are here.
I’ve participated in protests against the genocide, and have never vandalized something in my life. Please don’t conflate the millions of people exercising their right to free speech with the actions of one misguided person.
Free the hostages.
Talk to Bibi about that
Please explain how it’s a genocide when the palestinian population increased LY, you throw that word around to cause maximum pain to a people that experienced a real genocide. It’s shameful. This restaurant should not be allowed in our neighborhood.
Frame this comment and reflect back on it in a year or two
when you kill 60,000 people, destroy their homes, block food until Gaza is declared a famine zone, turn down an offer by Hamas to release 10 hostages in exchange for a ceasefire, carpetbimb Gaza the next day, and have Knesset members hold a symposium last week for real estate developers to turn the whole territory into an Israeli-owned beach resort, that is as good a description of govt-sponsored annihilation as I have ever seen.
LY?
One misguided person? The Jewish community in the U.S. has been subjected to a litany of attacks in recent years from street assaults in Brooklyn, murders in DC, a flamethrower attack in Boulder, and numerous instances of vandalism. Who knows how many people were involved in the vandalism at Effy’s? Don’t minimize it.
Please don’t call it a genocide. The slaughter of 6 million Jews by the Nazis during WW II was a genocide. These are unfortunate collateral deaths in an all out war between Israel and Hamas. But yes, an overreaction by the Israeli government.
ok massacre or systematic annihilation both work for me
I’ll go with Ehud Barak’s take on that (and many other prominent Israelis) over yours.
Please keep in mind that the mission of Hamas is to eradicate the Jewish State. Is that not the definition of genocide? As long as the Palestinian people continue to allow terrorists to represent them, then they will get absolutely nowhere in life.
Maybe if Hamas spent more on their fellow citizens instead of building tunnels to hide in, you wouldn’t see all this suffering.
“As long as the Palestinian people continue to allow terrorists to represent them, then they will get absolutely nowhere in life.”
I feel precisely the same way — about Americans continuing to allow terrorists to represent them. Why in the world don’t we do something about it?
Don’t worry, Biden and the people actually in charge lost months ago. But I’d call them traitors more than terrorists.
I don’t need to be reminded of a single thing about Hamas. On October 7, 2023, the issue was Hamas and their mission, which in their charter calls for the destruction of the Israeli state and on that date sent marauders into Israel to commit horrific terrorist attacks. On August 22, 2025, however, the issue is Israel’s continued prosecution of the war, which (with Hamas in tatters) has long since morphed into destruction of the Palestinian people in Gaza. I would urge you to take note of Ehud Barak’s remarks. He called Israel’s actions war crimes. That Hamas would perpetrate genocide if it could does not justify the level of violence and/or displacement against all (or almost all) of the Palestinian people living in Gaza. Two separate things can be true. Both sides can be wrong.
Sirhan Sirhan, the Black September Group, Yasser Arafat, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas; sorry but Ehud Barak’s remarks don’t matter much to me…
You call the deliberate starving of women and children an overreaction?
They’re only starving because Hamas is stealing the food aid. This is well-documented.
Wonder why my response to Will about nobody mentioning Hamas in all of this mess was not posted, Thanks Eve!
Actually, this is poorly documented. Yes, in some cases, Hamas is stealing food. But that is not the entire and only reason people are starving.
It’s a genocide. It’s a TEXTBOOK genocide that every single european country has agreed is happening
It might be a good idea for supporters of the Gazans to stop using the word “genocide” . It just gets supporters entangled in semantics. What is happening to the Palestinians is not new. One state fears another state and would like to remove the danger. They would also like their land. Genocide is not necessary. All that is needed is to make their living conditions unbearable.
By that same token, should survivors of the Holocaust stop using ‘genocide’ to describe what happened to them? Rwanda? Armenia?
It’s a genocide. The whole world knows it, except the deluded, the true believers, and the bigots
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147976
This is beautiful! Cannot wait for them to open!!
I would gladly support a proudly Palestinian restaurant that served food but truly embraced all customers by not turning it into something other than a restaurant. It it his right of course but sometimes you can win people over by your own humanity without–please for give the phrase—shoving it down peoples throats.
I like to support all restaurants especially these days and especially on the UWS but how is using the word occupation right in the front of the menu helping to embrace all customers? Or is that what you mean?
Agreed!!
Yes! Thank you. Enough messaging. Let’s just take care of each other
No such thing as a free dinner. He’s buying the students but I doubt he’s the one actually footing the bill in the end.
I had the same thought. No way he’s footing that bill himself
Oh my, someone is paying for free food for people! Call the cops!1
That’s sad.
Ummm… Mansef is a Jordanian dish. In fact, it is often referred to as “the Jordanian National Dish.”
And what percentage of Jordan’s population is Palestinian?
And Chileans claim Pisco is Chilean. Food doesn’t recognize boundaries.
Politics aside, I recently ate at the East Village location. I looked forward to the Kibbeh, as it is difficult to find in NYC. But I was underwhelmed and disappointed with the quality wait tastes reheated and not crispy. But I will try this new location to give it a chance.
“From the River to the Sea” is such a hurtful phrase to so many Jews, it’s hard to understand why they would use that on a menu….
is it hard though or is it really easy?
You’re worried about a phrase when Israel is starving people to death in Gaza?
We’re more worried about the eradication of the Jewish State.
No, it’s not. Hard to understand, that is.
Its very easy to understand if you know who they are and what they are for. However, Americans are often unaware, uninformed, and ignorant of the issue until it appears at their doorstep. Oh wait, its already here…
Is he donating anything to feed the starving hostages?
You mean the ones held by Israel, for years?
If he did, would Netanyahu’s government allow it across the border?
HELL YES
That “free Shabbat dinner” Ayat sponsored in Brooklyn was an anti-Israel hate-fest for radical lefty anti-Israel Jews. It was not a sincere goodwill gesture. Rather, it was a deliberate giant middle finger towards the mainstream Jewish community.
The “River to the Sea” section of Ayat’s menu is a call for Israel’s destruction. This is violent hate speech, plain and simple.
Mr Elenani is not interested in “common ground” and he is not interested in peace.
It’s a shame the WSR has given him a platform to spread his nonsense. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Agree 100 percent. Why give this hateful “anti-Zionist” (because being against Israel’s very existence is 100 percent anti-Jewish) this platform. Unless you frame the story: Palestinian, anti-Zionist restauranteur publicizes his politics to attract anti-Israeli patrons. That’s the story.
I’m Jewish, and American. Israeli has nothing to do with me.
Palestinian restaurant? Great. We have wonderful Middle Eastern restaurants in this neighborhood from Leyla (Turkish) to Gazala (Israeli Druze) to Hummus Place (Israeli Jewish) and beyond.
But the owners of Ayat are the only ones pushing a very specific political vision, which does not feel peaceful at all. Their Instagram page is filled with Mamdani boosterism. They seem to welcome everyone as long as they support eliminating Israel. That’s not welcoming at all to the majority of Jews and Israelis in this neighborhood who seek peace and a Palestinian state alongside of Israel.
From the former menu that said “From the River to the Sea”; to saying “Down with the Occupation” (which parts do they consider occupied and which parts do they accept are Israeli?); to hosting an anti-Zionist Shabbat; it’s clear that they have an eliminationist stance focused on dismantling Israel. They don’t seem to have a peace-forward stance that supports the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
They wouldn’t do well elsewhere in the neighborhood except around Columbia. This place seems more focused on politics than food and bringing people together.
You forgot to mention Moshe’s Falafel on West 83rd St.
They have awesome falafel and humus. The staff is very friendly.
And they aren’t promoting any political agenda.
A menu with the phrase “From River To Sea” is supposed to bring people together? Delusional. A restaurant that can provide 9000 free meals? Suspect.
I don’t believe anything this plant is saying about peace as long as he promotes the demonstrations and being extremely political. It`s the Muslim Taqquia practice. I guess Mamdani will be his favourite client.
If he doesn’t want to be political then don’t put “Down with the occupation” on your menu. You can’t have it both ways.
You know what the worst occupation is – Hamas occupying the home of many innocent Palestinians, taking their money, food and resources and using them as human shields.
I will take my business elsewhere.
It’s kosher?
Hate to wade into the comments on this website, but an Opening/Closing article that doesn’t give the cross streets? C’monnnn
With good reason, as explained in the piece.
Might have been a joke
Given the current administrations take on revoking student visas. Its quite bold to open this in a place where one would guess a large amount of the target clientele could be putting themselves at risk of a made up claim of “supporting enemies of the US”.
Hopefully the food is good.
Well this is poised to go just swimmingly
Fuel protesters with free meals? No thanks, I’ll take my business elsewhere.
What Jewish person would feel safe eating there?
I’m Jewish, and am looking forward to trying it out once the restaurant opens.
Supporting business that declares desire to harm your own people, how noble of you. Lol.
You do you.
I was into this restaurant until the owner turns political and encourages disruption and protests. This the last thing the UWS and especially Columbia area needs is an establishment promoting mayhem.
Ugh. We don’t need people from Brooklyn coming to the UWS to protest.
The “One Jewish State in the World” is committing genocide. It’s unfolding before our eyes. How can any decent human being watch a mother holding an emaciated infant at a withered breast support this?
And, please, don’t give me “They started it.” You’re only revealing your ignorance of the history of that area since Europeans confiscated the land that was Palestine for thousands of years.
Well, somehow, I doubt that the WSR will print my response.
“ the land that was Palestine for thousands of years.” …this is inaccurate. The historical fact is that the land has been contested for thousands of years. Jews have lived there for thousands of years, presumably (Biblically?) having conquered it from someone else. The Hellenic people (Assyrians) came to conquer it. Then the Romans, the Ottomans, the British. …It’s been a long violent history for thousands of years. There is enough land and resources for everyone. What is needed is _mutual_ acceptance of each group’s right to live there in peace. Denying that the Jews have any historical claim to the land there is just archeologically impossible.
Beautiful, I’m so excited to come to this beautiful Palestinian restaurant <3 We should all join together to support peace, end the occupation and genocide of Palestinians, protest violence in the region and war crimes funded by our taxes, and speak out against islamophobia and antisemitism. Politicians and hate will try to separate us, but we are all neighbors and should all care for and protect each other. I hope that our neighborhood will return the love and kindness that Elenani and his restaurant are sharing.
If I am an Israeli will he still want to share his love and kindness with me?
Yum! Can’t wait to go support this restaurant.
“We love you” — and yet, he’s encouraging conflict by offering free meals to violent and disruptive protesters and plastering his establishment with anti-Israel sentiments. And obviously no mention of the starved-to-death hostages in Gaza. Hello and goodbye.
You knew you’d be stirring the pot with this one, Rag. Just admit it.
Don’t you think “stirring the pot” aka having a democratic discourse is kind of a great thing? Let’s enjoy it while we (still sort of) have it!
Look. If you want to paint with an enormously broad-brush and suggest that every single Palestinian is a member or supporter of Hamas – which is absurd – then don’t eat there.
Also, stop making assumptions about who did what with regard to the defacing of Jewish property or other truly anti-Semitic activity. It may well have been simple vandalism by young people who don’t know any better (and there is a lot of that going around).
The restaurant is just a restaurant. It is owned by Palestinians who support the Palestinians under siege in Gaza. If that bothers you, don’t eat there.
It’s really very simple.
1. The food at Ayat is phenomenal. I’m so glad we don’t have to go all the way to Bay Ridge for it anymore. I’d fall asleep on the subway on the way home every time I had dinner there.
2. Two dear, old friends who are Jewish and very proud of their Jewish identities had a post-wedding banquet at the Ayat in Bay Ridge. The owners could not have been more welcoming or gracious to the couple or their guests, who were of all backgrounds.
I know one of our UWS residents, Peter Beinart, a well respected Jewish intellectual, has some more nuanced understandings of the phrase “from the river to the sea” as something that can mean something different to many people. From what I understand, it does not mean a call for the destruction of Israel for most, but rather a rallying cry for equality. I’ll try to find a link to something if anyone here cares to read it.
Thank you for your nuance. I appreciate it.
Hamas uses the phrase “from the river to the sea”. what do you think they mean by it?
Beinart is laughable and he foments hatred of Jews. Most mainstream American Jews do not agree with his views.
Unsurprisingly, people on the UWS have lots of opinions but I strongly suspect most of them don’t agree with Peter Beinart who is a columnist who believes Israel should be effectively replaced.
Saying “from the river to the sea” mean equality takes a very strained reading of the phrase, which in some Arabic versions is “from the water to the water, Palestine will be Arabic”.
Food carries the process it went through, the energy of its maker and preparer. I don’t want to put all this hateful energy in my body, let alone pay for it.
No, thank you. Absolutely not.
The restaurant equivalent of trolling!
Imagine what would happen if a pro-Israel, kosher Jewish restaurant opened in the same area. I bet it wouldn’t be pretty. That’s how you know if you’re on the right side of history or not…..
There are wonderful Israeli owned and operated restaurants on the UWS – several mentioned in these comments. If there was a pro Netanyahu, siege and starvation supporting, humanitarian aid block embracing, settler violence endorsing, kill thousands of innocents, level their farms and schools and hospitals and universities, – oh, and and let the hostages rot – policy-espousing cafe or some such….eh, maybe not. But TBH a lot of Jews I know are deeply pained and against those actions and aspects of Israeli governmental policy. Some even feel they offend Jewish values. So yes, a cafe like that, heaven forbid, might attract some negative feeling. Or do you have a PR plan for that type of establishment?
There are tons of those all over the UWS. Plenty of anti-arab stickers on the streetpoles around them too
I’m looking forward to this restaurant.
What a shame politics had to get involved. Do they have a dish called free the hostages? I would have loved to have gone but cannot see my way there when the sentiment is to destroy a country and a people ( from river to sea and the likes). Pretty hypocritical to talk about love and humanity and inclusiveness….
I am Jewish, you can be critical of the Israeli Government and still support Israel. I am critical of Trump actually hate him and still support the US. I always hear more about Israel and genocide than I do of how Hamas treats the Palestinian people. They take there food and medicine meant for the people and keep for themselves. How about we become more critical of Hamas. How about we speak more about how they are a terrorist organization like Hezbollah.
Yes yes and YES.
Never forget:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04_qfj8921I
Wonderful news. I am looking forward to Ayat’s restaurant opening. I have eaten at the downtown location and was pleased with the food and hospitality. Thank you.
Wow if there was ever a reason to disable to comment section, it was here.
One question, on the menu there is the slogan “Down with the occupation”. Does this mean the occupation of Gaza/West Bank, or also Tel Aviv?
October 7th Happened, but no one says anything about that! FREE THE HOSTAGES and all of this goes away…….