The recent incident at Cairo Takeaway in Newtown has taken an unexpected turn as conflicting accounts of the event have come to light.
On February 12, Cairo Takeaway, a pro-Palestine eatery in Sydney’s inner west, reported an unsettling incident on its Instagram page. The restaurant claimed that a man wearing a Star of David hat, accompanied by a Daily Telegraph news crew waiting outside, had entered the premises in what they claimed was an attempt to provoke staff.
According to the restaurant’s initial account on Instagram, the man allegedly asked a server, “Do you have a problem with me because I’m Jewish?”
Cairo Takeaway suggested this was part of a deliberate effort to manufacture conflict, claiming, “It is very easy to infer that they had attended Cairo Takeaway along with the instigator in an attempt at manufacturing a story.”
However, the man at the centre of the controversy has now come forward through his legal team, presenting a different version of events.
According to the legal document sent to PEDESRTIAN.TV, the man entered the shop on February 11 and ordered a drink without incident. The situation allegedly became tense only after a brief interaction with a female staff member.
The man claims he agreed to be featured in a Daily Telegraph investigation “because of the anti-semitism experienced by the Jewish community is escalating to catastrophic levels and occurs in all aspects of daily life”.
The version of events recounts that after ordering, the man said, “Thank you so much, have a good one,” to which the female staff member reportedly responded in a “surly tone” with “Hmm… pleasure.”
The man claims he then asked, “Is everything okay?” He allegedly received no reply.
The man later asked what the drink was, to which the female staff member explained it was “karkade, hibiscus flower”. The man said it was delicious and the female staff member allegedly replied: “Excellent- I hope you enjoy it,” to which the man thanked her.
The legal letter alleges that the situation escalated outside the shop when reporters approached the female staff member to asked her “why she was uncomfortable with [their client’s] presence”. It recounts a series of heated exchanges, including accusations from the staff:
“You know exactly what you’re fucking doing, you pony,” the female staffer allegedly told him.
The man claims the confrontation continued on the street, with staff members following him. His statement alleges that he was repeatedly told to “fuck off” and accused of exacerbating global conflicts.
“It’s people like you who are making this war go on and on,” the female staffer allegedly said.
The legal document provides a detailed account of what the man claims happened during the street confrontation:
“The [staff members] and a passerby, continued to swear at and abuse our client, telling him to ‘fuck off’ and ‘get out of our community’.”
The statement further alleges that the female staff member continued to follow them down the street, “filming them, continuing to swear at them, referring to our client as a ‘puppy dog’ and accuse them of being divisive”.
The man allegedly then asked, “What about what the owner posted?”, referring to a post where he used the phrase “narcissistic Zionist pigs”.
The female staff member allegedly said, “What about it?”
The legal team’s account also includes a claim that a passerby, allegedly encouraged by the female staff member, told the man, “You guys should just go back to the Middle East.”
The statement quotes the female staff member as saying, “You’ve picked the inner west where people have opinions and stand up for things” and “You made a mistake… and you’ve just spilled the beans on what the drive was, apparently my boss said antisemitic comments to you or to your community, so you’ve just come here with a deliberate motive, to shame my boss.”
The legal team’s statement concludes with a serious allegation towards the restaurant: “In light of what actually occurred, your false and public allegations about what you assert occurred… are a serious act of antisemitism.”
The man’s legal team has requested the restaurant to take down any social media posts about him and issue a public retraction of their claims.
Lead image: Cairo Takeaway/Instagram
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