Israeli flag stolen from Montco coffee shop rattling owner, customers
HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. - A group of people wearing masks entered a café in Montgomery County and stole an Israeli flag hanging inside. The owner of the restaurant is shaken up.
"This is a peaceful environment. People come here to work, people come here to relax, people come here to meet their siblings, moms, dads," says Lawrence Kalikhman, part-owner of Café Ole in Huntingdon Valley.
Unfortunately, Wednesday night he says that wasn’t the case. "Probably the best way to describe it is surreal," Kalikhman said.
Just after 5 p.m., surveillance video shows a group of people with masks enter the cafe and immediately head for the Israeli flag at the back of the restaurant.
They rip it off the wall and head out of the business, leaving customers and his staff scared.
"It was hate. It was terrifying, in fact and I’m sorry that they had to go through that, I’m sorry anybody would have to go through that. It’s pointless and meaningless and defeats what this coffee shop stands for," says Kalikhman.
Which what the coffee truly stands for can be seen within the customers, like Adam Soloff, a local resident who’s been coming to the cafe since it opened.
"You see it on TV, you see it happen in other places, but you don’t expect it at your local spot where you hang out. Definitely surprised. Felt some anger and then I just wanted to figure out how to support," says Soloff.
Which that’s exactly what Soloff ended up doing by covering the tabs for quite a few customers. A nice gesture to show his sign of support for the business that he calls home.
"My thinking is, if you are going to come and support any one of the places in your community this is one of the ones in Huntingdon Valley that you are going to want to support," says Soloff.
As for Kalikhman, he wants the people who did this to be held accountable. "I hope that they are caught and are prosecuted to the fullest extent so, people like them, people in the community, people who want to cause hate violence or disruption in a peaceful environment, understand it’s not going to be tolerated," says Kalikhman.
Kalikhman says not only is the flag being hung up to support Israel after the attacks, but also one of his employees is Israeli.
Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to call the Detectives Unit at the Upper Southampton Township Police Department.