A dinner ostensibly aimed at celebrating the Jewish Sabbath has sparked controversy, with critics labeling it a gathering of radical anti-Israel activists, as reported by The Post.
The Friday night event, organized by the activist group Climate Defiance, featured ticket prices reaching up to $5,000. Attendees included a prominent lineup of left-leaning figures, such as outspoken anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour; Democratic congressional hopeful Brad Lander; Tiffany Caban, a Queens Democratic socialist known for her activism against the Gaza conflict; and Abby Stein, a trans rabbi linked to Mayor Mamdani, also noted for her anti-Israel stance.
Hosted at the residence of filmmaker and social activist Jill Goldman, the dinner offered a kosher and vegan-friendly menu and was held in conjunction with a celebration of the Tribeca Film Festival’s climate-focused film “Just Look Up.” The film documents the efforts of Michael Greenberg, the founder of Climate Defiance.
The invitation for the event promised an intimate setting with “no phones, no cameras, no tech,” encouraging guests to “break bread” and “build community.” It aimed to bring together allies from diverse “faiths, backgrounds, and traditions.”
However, critics remained skeptical about the event’s purported inclusivity and intersectional approach.
“Why is this being done in secrecy? What is it that you’re going to say that needs to be hidden from the public? Knowing who the players are, this feels like it’s using Shabbat as a cover,” Jewish activist Tali Goldsheft of the “Politically Homeless No More” movement fumed to The Post, alleging the ban on devices at the end shields it from potential scrutiny.
Earlier this month Israel banned Sarsour, the former co-chair of the Women’s March, from a planned visit, which drew outrage from anti-Israel group CAIR.
Lander, the former city comptroller, has been accused of fueling the anti-Israel BDS movement by divesting government funds from Israel bonds when they matured. This month, he appeared in an ad for hateful far-left Democratic socialist, US-bashing congressional hopeful Darializa Avila Chevalier.
The Boycott, Divest and Sanction, or BDS, campaign is an international effort aimed at isolating and delegitimizing the world’s only Jewish state.
“Like David Duke, Linda Sarsour is a bigot and a social pariah,” ripped Goldsheft, who accused the Jewish Lander of “using a Jewish tradition to promote himself alongside Sarsour,” who came under fire for her fealty to antisemite Louis Farrakhan.
Dubious onlookers moaned that the melting pot meal was anything but kosher.
“Rather than ‘Shabbat dinner,’ this is nothing more than a ‘Jew-hater dinner,’” said Michelle Ahdoot of End Jew Hatred.
“These very same people advocate for the racist BDS movement, which is unacceptable in today’s society, and frankly, this foursome’s Jew-hatred is unacceptable at any event, most of all at one that they dare to frame as a Shabbat dinner,” she added.
Climate Defiance, Lander and Sarsour did not return The Post’s requests for comment.