Possible antisemitic incident under investigation at Bucks County coffee shop
HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. (CBS) -- Police are investigating a possible antisemitic incident at a Bucks County coffee shop.
An Israeli flag was ripped off one of its walls and the vandals were captured on camera.
"It was a very cowardly act," Lawrence Kalikhman, a partner at Café Ole, said.
The act happened at Café Ole in The Valley Wednesday night.
About an hour before closing, one of the partners said four men in masks came in and ripped the flag off the wall.
"Started screaming, 'Free Palestine.' Ripped the flag off," Kalikhman said.
Kalikhman said the group then ran with the flag around the shopping center, before taking off.
Upper Southampton police said they're investigating the incident, but declined to provide further details.
One of the partners is Israeli and the flag ripped down was up for weeks.
"I don't know what they were trying to accomplish, but what they did accomplish was hate and terror," Kalikhman said.
Customers packed the place Thursday in a show of support.
"I'm here every day talking to him about his cousin, his family there. It hit pretty hard, pretty fast," said Gennadiy Geyeler, whose a regular at the cafe.
Now, an Israeli flag is back up on the wall inside Café Ole in the Valley.
"This is where the Jewish community comes. This is where the non-Jewish community comes," Monique Hofkin said.
After hearing of what happened, Hofkin decided to offer a $1,000 reward for information leading to each arrest in the incident.
"I felt like I had to do something," Hofkin said. "This is my place. This is all of our place. When you do something to one of us, you do something to all of us."
After the incident, the owners said it won't stop them from doing what they love to do in the form of coffee, pastries and company.
