By Scott Etkin
Signage went up recently on the northeast corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 106th Street for Hinds Hall, a Palestinian restaurant named after Hind Rajab, a 5-year-old girl who was killed along with her family in Gaza.
The restaurant is one of a chain of popular Palestinian eateries, including Ayat Astoria and Ayat East Village, owned by restaurateur Abdul Elenani. “We are naming this restaurant Ayat Hinds Hall so her name continues to be spoken,” Elenani wrote on Instagram. “Because no matter what business you are in, there should always be a deeper purpose behind it.”
Elenani announced last summer that Ayat would open a restaurant near the Columbia campus; in an interview at that time, he told West Side Rag that his goal for his restaurants has always been “bringing people together” regardless of their faith.
Seeing Jewish and Muslim guests sharing the Ayat space, Elenani said, “brings me peace and makes me happy.”
The new restaurant is located 10 blocks south of Columbia University, in the space formerly occupied by the longtime pizzeria Mama’s, which closed last May. The name “Hinds Hall” was inspired by the death of Hind Rajab, a kindergartener who, along with family members, was trying to escape Gaza City in January 2024 when an Israeli tank is alleged to have opened fire on their Kia. In a widely reported recording, she was heard pleading with emergency dispatchers on the telephone to help her: “I’m so scared, please come. Come take me. Please, will you come?” Although the Israeli military denied the attack, an investigation by The Washington Post contradicted the claim that there were no Israeli troops in the area.
Several months later, in April 2024, Columbia students occupied the university’s Hamilton Hall and dangled a sheet out the window, proclaiming it Hind’s Hall after Rajab, who had become a symbol of the Palestinian cause. Elenani said he recognizes that his political stance courts controversy, and when he announced plans to open a restaurant on the UWS last summer, he told the Rag that, in order to avoid harassment, he would not publicize the exact location until it was ready to open.
On Ayat’s Instagram page, he recently added that naming the restaurant after Hind Rajab is not about politics, but, rather, about remembering a child who did not deserve to die. “Will never back down when it comes down to HUMANITY,” he wrote.
In January 2024, Elenani hosted a free Shabbat dinner and religious service at an Ayat location in Ditmas Park for more than 1,300 people. He said he hopes to host Shabbat dinners at the new restaurant.
No opening date has been announced for Ayat Hinds Hall, but the restaurant’s website says it is “coming soon.”
To read the Rag’s interview with Elenani, click HERE.
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Not even for free.
I couldn’t be more embarrassed for you. Stay home. You won’t be missed.
I recall hearing the heartbreaking story at the time, but had not recalled Hind’s name being widely reported. This is a creative way to honor her and I hope this new location is very successful. May Hind’s memory be a blessing.
Hind Rajab’s name was widely reported at the time of her murder.
good luck – nothing screams good food like a political name.
One look at the names of items on Ayat’d menus tells you that all of the restaurants are political, not just Hinds hall. It is an odd model for “bringing people together. “
I’m looking at their menu; yum looking dishes like “Zaatar Labneh”, “Lamb Kebab”, “Grilled Halloumi and Watermelon Salad”, “Lamb Ouzi Royale”…
Are those political in some way that I’m not seeing?
Those all sound delicious
What a wonderful tribute to such a tragic event. Ayat restaurants serve delicious Middle Eastern food – how great to have one right in our ‘hood. I concur totally with need to build interfaith understanding. Can’t wait for Hinds Hall to open.
“build interfaith understanding”- You sweet summer child, that isn’t the purpose at all.
The film is brilliant…and devastating
Be the change you want. Have to respect the effort.
Hope they have “ Palestinian chicken”!!
Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Good luck with that, Manhattan.
With all thas going on.
As in GOAT HINDS?????
Can’t wait to delight on their delicious food!!!
So happy to hear the restaurant is closer to opening!
Hoo boy. It seems very provocative to me, perhaps even aggressive, to name a restaurant that is 10 blocks from where the US campus protests began after a murdered Gazan child, no matter the intention. Not to mention using the name that Palestinian-supporting students put on a banner when illegally taking over a campus building. I wish I didn’t, but I foresee some ugliness. I wonder why the owner didn’t simply make the new restaurant another Ayat (Ayat 106 or Ayat UWS or…) or perhaps he could’ve called it Amal, which means hope in Arabic.
I think remembering the little girl’s name is the most meaningful, but thanks I guess
Cry about it. I’ll be going happily
I’ll pass, but thanks.
The idea that this will bring people together is not logical. And it is reasonable to ask: who is funding this business? Besides the “owner” who are the major investors? Do tell.
Investigate…
Putting gasoline on the fire. I hope they are welcoming to everyone.
Well, there are civil rights laws….
Would you have been welcome in Hinds Hall?
Can’t wait to eat there! And of course there is the Academy Award-nominated film about the killing of Hind Rajab. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voice_of_Hind_Rajab
Will there also be items named after the many Israelis who were attacked and killed on October 7? Asking for a friend.
I’m supportive of a Palestinian restaurant. But he is not even trying to make it non-political. So I will choose not to eat there, and will suggest that my friends and family make the same choice.
If one of the many kind, peaceful Palestinian people want to open a restaurant (and it can even celebrate their heritage without being political), I might try it.
Many of us have very nuanced views of this situation and cannot easily be lumped into a bucket, contrary to popular belief.
There are already several Israeli restaurants on the UWS which openly display the Israeli flag. I don’t recall anyone claiming this was offensive in the least.
Also, the entire existence of the Palestinian people is political, since Israel’s entire project is to colonize Palestine and erase their national identity.
Except it’s not, because “Palestinians” weren’t even a national identity until 1964.
And Israelis could rattle off a number of children who have died at the hands of terrorists. But they don’t name restaurants after them.
Very well said. Thanks for this – I for one agree completely.
Please note that my reply was to Carlos, *not* to the anti-Israeli comment by “George Wallace” with which I wholly disagree.
I wish them success! No matter where one stands on the conflict, we should all welcome regular Palestinians and Israelis and their contributions to our city’s great culture.
Hear hear!
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I got that message also when trying to Like comments.
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God, I hope the crazies don’t come out of the woodwork and cause trouble for no reason. I can already “feel” the Islamophobia and unprovoked protest coming, and “hear” some of the unwarranted accusations and epithets. I obviously hope I’m wrong. I would love to see not just the C.U. area but the UWS as a whole welcome this restaurant and its owner. I know I will.
Serious question. How many protests at Palestinian or other Arab cuisine restaurants have you heard about? The only one I can think of was at the Druze restaurant on the UWS, and that was because they are Israeli. I am not sure why you expect “Islamaphobia” and protests.
Ian expected Islamophobia because of course, the name of a murdered Palestinian child *immediately* prompts WHAT ABOUT OCTOBER 7 responses from the local extremists.
Palestinians have a right to exist, own restaurants, call them what they want, and profit from them. AND they have their own cuisine. Unlike Israelis
Many of us will support this restaurant.
Many of us, remembering October 7, will not.
And that is a tragedy. But many more will not.
Awesome!
If someone visits this restaurant and speaks Hebrew, will they be welcome there?
If someone visits this restaurant and speaks Chinese, will they be welcome there?
Their menus are literally in both Hebrew and Arabic lol
Get a grip
What a strange question. Why would you equate speaking Hebrew with being a supporter of Israeli state violence?
I went to Ayat Astoria. The food was good, but there were too few servers for the number of customers.
Naming a restaurant in honor of a murdered child is unappetizing; an Ayat name would be much better. However, I plan to go & try the food! Glad to have it in my neighborhood, esp. if not expensive.
Oh, you mean you’re actually interested in the food?
Every other one of their restaurants is named Ayat plus a location like Ayat Astoria. This one of course has to be a fictional location purposely intended to instigate as many negative feelings as possible.
In culinary terms, it’s something we’re really missing in the immediate neighborhood (we have several great options for fast food from the region, but Ayat branches are next-level flavor/quality, very different vibe). To me the name feels amazing & welcoming – Hinds Hall was one of the most important moments in recent neighborhood history.
I somehow doubt that the university facility workers trapped inside “Hinds Hall” would deem it an important moment. We are living in very fraught times.
I wonder if the bagels will measure up to Upper West Side standards.
RIP Hind Rajab
I am curious why the name is backward on the one side.
That name certainly does not “bring people together.” The exact opposite. Hopefully they will station cops out in front.
There’s no way I would have been welcome in “Hinds Hall” so how can I go here?
I walked by yesterday. Not only is it offensive to name a restaurant after a building at Columbia where students and employees were attacked, but it’s also hideous to look at. The corner is now an eyesore in the neighborhood.
Looking forward to Hinds Hall. I have been to Ayat’s other establishments and the food is excellent. Great corner.
When this restaurant is filled to the gills this summer, you all will be stewing in your craw.
Palestinian food is not only delicious – it’s an actual cuisine. Not just imported/appropriated “Mediterranean” food.
From the Hudson to the Atlantic
The problem isn’t that it’s Palestinian food itself (because clearly Ayat has a popular foothold in Brooklyn). The problem is using the restaurant – and the violent death of a child – as a political statement to sell that food.
In the face of the Palestinian genocide and war I think taking a political stance is necessary. To celebrate Palestine is to celebrate their survival against Israel.
Perhaps the restaurant will have correctly thin pita, not the bland wonder pita so common in NYC.
A child dying anywhere in the world is truly heartbreaking … Everyone likely agrees on that! But using the name of a child killed in a war as BRANDING for a resturant – espeically when there is no connection to the family or clear support of proceeds going back to them – feels a bit misguided no? Tragedy shouldn’t be turned into a theme for a business … Do Columbia students get 15% off on Mondays? Cmon … There is a reason noone jumped out the window and opened the George Floyd Soul Food shack in Harlem
It’s in honor of her memory. And a reminder of Israel’s crimes.
As for tragedy not being a business, let me direct you to the 9/11 Museum and Experience downtown.
And for those with short memories, a statue in memory of George Floyd was erected in Flatbush. It was defaced by Neo-Nazis within weeks.