‘We won’t allow it’: Vandal spray-paints ‘Free Palestine,’ tears down US-Israel flag at downtown Miami bagel shop – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) – The owner of a bagel shop in downtown Miami said he is sick and tired of his businesses being targeted by vandals in what he described as acts of discrimination.

Surveillance video captured a man in a hoodie vandalizing Holy Bagels & Pizzeria, located near Northwest First Avenue and First Street, early Sunday morning.

It’s the fourth time in nearly eight months that one of Josh Nodel’s businesses has been defaced.

The restaurant owner spoke with 7News hours after the latest incident.

“It’s devastating, devastating, it’s disgusting. It’s like, I can’t, I can’t,” he said. “It’s like, it’s like – makes me angry.”

The perpetrator spray-painted the business’ windows with the words “Free Palestine,” then tore down a U.S.-Israeli flag and tied it around the front door handles.

“He took down – we have a flag on top of [the shop], we have an Israeli American flag that says, ‘Stand with Israel,’ and that’s what he took down and sprayed as well,” said Nodel. “Now he hangs it up over there on the door.”

The upset restaurant owner said he won’t tolerate hate.

“We won’t allow it, we won’t allow it. We won’t go to the gas chambers like it happened in the Holocaust,” he said. “This is not going to be tolerated.”

This wasn’t the first time Nodel has experienced this kind of vandalism.

At his Bagel Time Cafe on Alton Road in Miami Beach, a man tore down his U.S. flag back on Dec. 22.

On Oct. 28, a man slashed a pro-Israel sign, and a month later, a woman ripped his pro-Israeli flag and stomped on it.

“It makes me angry. It makes me mad,” said Nodel.

Nodel said they may have vandalized his windows and stolen his flag, but what can never be taken is his pride for Israel and America.

“What happens next? Well, we, like what we did in Miami Beach, when they hurt us, we put more — we put two more flags, three more flags, five flags,” he said. “As far as the [Israel-Hamas] war, we stand behind the war, we’re not going to stop. We’ve got to do what the mission is, to get the hostages back home.”

Nodel has since reported the latest incident to police.

If you have any information on this act of vandalism or the subject’s whereabouts, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.

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