Jordan’s ‘October 7’ restaurant says it’s changing name due to political pressure

A new restaurant in Jordan that named itself “October 7,” apparently celebrating Palestinian terror group Hamas’s massacre of 1,200 people in a brutal rampage through southern Israel on that day, says it’s changing the name due to pressure.

Video of the shawarma joint in the Southern Mazar district, south of the city of Kerak near the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, had gone viral, leading to complaints from Israel about the offensive name.

The Ynet news site quotes a Facebook post from the owner saying that he was forced to change the name due to “political pressure,” with local authorities informing him that they would withhold his business license, claiming it is forbidden to give a restaurant a name with political connotations.

“The date October 7 is an honorable date and will remain engraved in our hearts forever. I wasn’t looking for fame, trends or marketing. I am proud of myself and proud that I shook the fragile entity [Israel] by using the name of a shawarma restaurant and struck terror in their hearts for at least two days,” he writes, adding that he has not come up with a new name yet.

The name drew an outcry in Israel, including from Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who reacted angrily, demanding condemnation from Jordanian leaders.

“The disgraceful glorification of October 7th has to stop. The incitement and hatred against Israel breeds the terrorism and extremism which led to the brutal massacre of October 7th,” Lapid tweeted in English. “We expect the Jordanian government to condemn this publicly and unequivocally.”