Schawarma scandal: Restaurant provides outrage on the anniversary of Hamas attack

Schawarma scandal: Restaurant provides outrage on the anniversary of Hamas attack

In the world of gastronomy, discount campaigns are a popular means of attracting customers. Especially on public holidays, special offers are often launched, which are a joyful opportunity for both the restaurants and guests. But now such an action by an Arab restaurant in Germany causes excitement. The Habiba restaurant in Saarbrücken has advertised a special offer for Schawarma, which coincides with a sensitive historical date.

on October 7, 2023, the anniversary of the devastating Hamas attack on Israel, the restaurant plans to offer three Schawarma roles for just 10 euros. This offer was announced in a video on Instagram and Facebook and promptly triggered negative reactions. Critics perceive the temporal meeting as tasteless and disrespectful towards the victims of the attack.

criticism and negative reactions of customers

After the advertising went online, numerous critical comments were created. Users describe the decision to start a discount campaign on October 7th as extremely inappropriate. "It looks like a support of terrorism," wrote an angry user on Instagram, while another called for the restaurant to boycott. The critical voices also piled up on Facebook, with many perceiving the chance of the date as provocative.

The operator of the restaurant was back and did not react to the numerous comments. The following Sunday, however, the contributions suddenly disappeared from social media. A request from Watson remained unanswered, which also raised questions. According to a report by the "world", the operator denies that the date was deliberately chosen and explains that there is a similar offer every month due to a personal occasion.

A more detailed view of the social media activities of the restaurant shows that no other special offer was advertised on another 7th day of the month, which in question. The special advertising for this day thus throws a light on the motivation behind the action.

classification by experts

Felix Klein, the Federal Government's anti -Semitism officer, said in an interview that he did not believe in a chance. In his opinion, the date is deliberately chosen, which focuses not only on gastronomy, but also the topic of integration in Germany. "It is alarming that such decisions are made that make such a painful and significant day appear in a wrong light," said Klein.

The Habiba restaurant has already acted as a contact point for Pro-Palestine demonstrations, which reinforces the current controversy of the offer. The combination of the date and the type of offer leaves a bitter aftertaste, regardless of the intentions of the operator.

currently remains unclear whether the offer will still take place as announced or whether the negative public and the associated controversity may have moved the operator to rethink. What is certain, however, is that such an action that overlaps with historical and sensitive events should always be carefully covered in order to meet social responsibility.

This action of the restaurant shows how important it is to deal with historical events sensitively in business. Especially in a pluralistic society in which different cultures and perspectives meet, controversial offers are quickly criticized and can cause extensive reactions.

For everyone interested who would like to find out more about the case, there are detailed reporting about it here on watson.de .