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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2354 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for June 12, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Found an enticing Yemeni restaurant in Oslo, but then I checked their Yelp page and saw a massive Palestinian flag hanging on the wall, and they're selling some crappy coke knockoff that raises funds for charity in Gaza. What's the sentiment here? Do I look elsewhere, or do I separate the art from the artist? Whenever I'm in the mood for Somali or Pakistani food, I manage to find places that don't put up any pro-Palestinian virtue signaling. I'm sure their proprietors still harbor some problematic views, but if it's not pervasively advertised, I can at least grant them some plausible deniability. It just doesn't sit right with me to eat from an establishment that could very well chase a Jewish individual out of it.

We had a Palestinian restaurant here that really went all in on the politics. They went out of business, probably didn't help but mostly the service was truly horrendous, like the dumbest kids at the mosque got waiter jobs there.

I kind of appreciate it, but I also wouldn't care about going to a Jewish deli that had Israeli flags everywhere. I like places where the owners feel free to express themselves personally.

How are you in the mood for Somali and Pakistani food so often that you can write the clause “whenever I’m in the mood for Somali and Pakistani food”? The mind of a foodie is beyond my understanding.

As a foodie, not obsessing over and intricately planning out restaurant meals is beyond my understanding. I could waste my caloric budget on mediocre food!

You're doing that thing that leftists do right now.

Okay, these are your views and you are entitled to them, and if this sincerely offends you, you have every right not to patronise this business. I'd probably feel the same way about a place of business bedecking itself ostentatiously in Pride flags for this month and selling Trans Cola for the charity about trans genocide.

But why did you feel the need to come on here and tell us all about it? Most of us are not in Oslo, those who are may not be looking for Yemeni restaurants (enticing or otherwise). Even if you wanted a mass boycott of Bad Bad Views by all us on here on The Motte, right now the sum total of "comments on the Motte, is in Oslo, is thinking of NOT going to a Bad Bad Views restaurant" seems to be one (1), i.e. you.

What it really sounds like is (a) you want praise and headpats from us for being such a staunch anti-anti-Semite and (b) a fishing expedition to get us to express anti-Semitic/pro-Palestine/Gaza/Hamas views so you can then rush off elsewhere to report us for "lookit all these right-wing fascist anti-Jewish Nazis on there".

Pride isn’t a terrorist country / organization … yet

Well, if you consider school shootings terror attacks...

Businesses bedecking themselves in Palestinian flags and symbols are a common sight in all of Europe and not just my neck of the woods. I am almost certain this is also prevalent, albeit to a lesser degree, in the larger metropolitan areas of the US. Out of innocuous curiosity, I wanted to inquire about what position others take on the matter, as I imagine in a highbrow space like TheMotte, people do frequently patronize ethnic restaurants serving exotic cuisines.

Just as they say opposite of love is not hatred but indifference, there is a case that the opposite of a loudly pro-Gazan restaurant is not a loud choice to boycott it but eating there while disagreeing and not giving a shit. If you imagine the proprietors at their most brainrotten, which choice do you think would irk them more? The only way to kill toxoplasma is to refuse to be fazed by any part of its lifecycle.

This doesn't mean patronize them anyway though, it means choose somewhere else while not spreading the culture war reason you're doing it.

Don't go there, find a competing place that's better (possibly along a different axis) and if anyone asks why you don't go there, take the opportunity to advertise the better place.

This makes their choice decrease their customer base without a corresponding increase from people on the other side of the culture war.

If you imagine the proprietors at their most brainrotten, which choice do you think would irk them more? The only way to kill toxoplasma is to refuse to be fazed by any part of its lifecycle.

I've seen people get mad for attracting the wrong kind of clientele, but their "wrogness" has to be obvious for all to see. I think they'd actually enjoy a zionist paying them money, but having to hide the fact thay they're a zionist (/or simply Jewish depending on far gone they are).

I also think these statements are contradictory, how do you propose that getting people mad at you showing up to their business will kill toxoplasma?

Out of innocuous curiosity, I was curious as to what position others take on the matter, as I imagine in a highbrow space like TheMotte people do frequently patronize ethnic restaurants serving exotic cuisines.

I give restaurants a pass when they have the small, obligatory placard of Havel's Greengrocer. That applies to BLM, Pride, Palestine, whatever. When the banners get large, the slogans omnipresent, and stated donations to the cause loud and overt, then I find elsewhere to spend my money.

Business owners can have political beliefs without being noxious about them. Refusing to patronise a restaurant because the owner didn’t put the correct BLM/whatever flag on their Twitter bio is one thing, refusing to visit one that has a massive tribal flag on the wall and makes a big deal out of raising funds for something you dislike seems entirely acceptable.

Assuming they're actually Yemeni, its probably less virtue signaling than sincerely held belief. I feel like this is the right wing version of not patronizing chick fil a because of their stance on gay rights, or refusing to go to the best burger place in town because the owner has a MAGA sticker in the window.

I can tolerate a BLM sticker perfectly fine, fifth columnists who may actively harbor terrorist sympathies on the other hand...

When you think about having dinner, your primary concern is over their (likely nonexistent) Jewish customers? Israel and Palestine seem to be living rent free in your head.

Personally I would just avoid those cuisines if the problem is pervasive to you, surely Oslo has a lox sandwich or others foods that are free of such baggage?

Israel and Palestine seem to be living rent free in your head.

This is my first post mentioning the conflict, are you perhaps confusing me for another user? Sure the pool of prospective Jewish customers may be narrow, but I've observed restaurants putting up signs saying "Zionists not welcome" with stars of David as opposed to the Israeli flag. I'm not going around boycotting a place for advocating against the construction of new settlements, but when they are the ones who vociferously demonstrate their allegiance and are raising money for a dubious cause, I believe my concern is entirely legitimate.

Ah, I see, didn't know they were that open about their Zionist opposition. Is Palestinian or Somalian food that common in Oslo that it's hard to avoid? It is nonexistent in my neck of the woods.

Also, have you ever been to Japan? Some restaurants or hot spring resorts have "no foreigners" or "Japanese only" posted at their entrance. Is that also bothersome?

Is Palestinian or Somalian food that common in Oslo that it's hard to avoid

There's a vast array of cuisines available in Oslo, but for better or worse, my guilty pleasure is going to the seedier parts of town and indulging in food at Middle Eastern/West Asian places.

Also, have you ever been to Japan?

Nope.

Is that also bothersome?

As the other commenter said, it's a blanket rule to filter out the low-caliber rabble contingent of tourists as well as avoiding the rigamarole of having customers ordering in a language the servers have no command of. As I am currently not in Japan, I'm not in a rush to opine on the ethics of patronizing such businesses.

Some restaurants or hot spring resorts have "no foreigners" or "Japanese only" posted at their entrance.

FWIW in practice that means, "guests must speak Japanese and respect Japanese mores". If you're fluent to a reasonable level and behave yourself they're perfectly happy to have you.

I believe my concern is entirely legitimate.

When the Norwegian Yemeni restaurant is on my doorstep planting bombs, yeah I'll worry about them. Not until then.

I think you might be confusing Yemen Zaad with GazaKjøkken (Gaza Kitchen), just looking at Oslo Middle Eastern restaurants.

Haha no, the former hung a Palestinian flag inside their establishment and is selling "Palestine Cola" in lieu of Coke, as do many Muslim-owned non-Palestinian businesses in the city.

That's odd; I thought all carbonated beverages were supportive of Palestine due to the gazafication step inherent in the process.

It's very difficult to tell a Jew cola from a Muslim cola, though. That's why I prefer Gentile drinks, and you can easily tell which is which- if there's another seal you have to remove before exposing the cap (which may itself have a hole in it), it's definitely a Gentile drink, where the Jew and Muslim drinks never add that. Powerade and those marble sodas are the two best examples.

All I can say is that GazaKjøkken is the only visible Palestinian flag I saw on Yelp's Middle Eastern restaurants in Oslo (initially a cursory review, but I've now looked at all pictures)... Is Yemen Zaad the restaurant you're referencing in the first post (can't find on yelp for whatever reason, but no Palestinian flag on tripadvisor etc), or is there some restaurant I'm missing?

Mea culpa, my memory served me wrong, Google Maps was the app.

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