Jerusalemites rally for ‘Eatifada’

One of the best-known Jewish jokes explains that Jewish holidays, in all their variety, all boil down to the same theme: “They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat.”

Now, a group of Jerusalemites are taking that ancient wisdom to heart. Using Facebook and Instagram, these residents of the capital have responded to the fear and violence of recent weeks by challenging each other to do something they usually take for granted: go out and have fun.

“The number of customers at [Jerusalem] restaurants and other businesses has dropped tremendously – so we’re heading out, eating, buying and taking a picture (or video) and challenging our friends to do the same,” the group’s Facebook page proclaims.

Calling itself the “Eatifada,” a riff off the now-common suggestion that the wave of Palestinian terror attacks constitutes a “third intifada,” the campaign’s unofficial tagline is explicit: “Fight terror through eating. Go to town, eat some food, challenge friends to do the same.”

The initiative is brand new. Its Instagram feed has just two posts, with a couple more on its Facebook feed. But the campaign’s Facebook page, launched Monday, has garnered 428 likes by press time. Organizers expect photos and videos of out-on-the-town Jerusalemites to start showing up in the coming days.

One Eatifada participant, Times of Israel blogger Laura Ben-David, commented alongside a photo of her family in a Jerusalem restaurant that there’s “nothing like defending my country with my appetite.”

https://instagram.com/p/9GRg8EgvOi/

The campaign isn’t limited to Jerusalem, organizers say. “Eatifada encourages people not to be afraid and go support businesses in Jerusalem (and elsewhere that have been negatively affected by terrorism),” the Facebook page reads.