**Plant-Based Kosher Chain Shouk Closes Permanently Amid Protests and Boycotts**
Shouk, a plant-based kosher street-food chain based in Washington, D.C., has permanently shut down its final locations this month. The closures come after two years of protests and boycotts led by anti-Israel activists, which significantly impacted the business.
Once celebrated by the Food Network and *The Washington Post* for its popular “Shouk Burger,” the chain operated five stores across the region. However, local activist group DC for Palestine spearheaded a boycott campaign alleging that Shouk’s falafel and other menu items “appropriated” Palestinian cuisine. The group also accused the owners of being “complicit in Israeli apartheid.”
Dennis Friedman, a Jewish American co-owner who, along with Israeli partner Ran Nussbacher, opened the first Shouk location over a decade ago, rejected these accusations. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Friedman emphasized that Shouk’s mission was to bring people together.
“I don’t agree with that because the intention of Shouk was pure and good,” Friedman said. “When my business partner came to me, it wasn’t ‘let’s make Israeli food.’ He wanted to make plant-based food that reminded him of his childhood and home. That was the core of where we started to build the recipes.”
Friedman explained that Shouk has primarily been promoted as a Mediterranean, plant-based, and Middle Eastern restaurant. “Very rarely have we claimed anything else. That’s why Shouk is written in both Arabic and Hebrew in all the stores because we are a place to bring everyone together.”
He described Shouk as “a gathering place for people of all races, colors, and creeds to come together to enjoy food” that is good for customers and the planet alike.
The co-owner noted that their Georgetown location was the first target of protests, citing its proximity to Georgetown University and the area’s “heavy Muslim population.” Friedman said business was thriving before October 7, but protests quickly began to damage their income.
“We reached out to local business groups and representatives and hired security outside our stores,” Friedman said, describing the experience of being harassed by protesters over the past two years as “scary and unnerving.”
He recounted some disturbing incidents: “We had everything from little children coming into the store during a busy lunch screaming ‘Free Palestine’ while their parents videoed for social media.”
Friedman called the protests part of a “very coordinated” and effective effort by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to hurt Shouk.
“There were posters of dead baby Palestinian children on the windows or on our seating outside. It ranged from vandalism to intimidation to maybe things that we don’t even know,” he added.
Reflecting on Shouk’s 12-year run, Friedman called it an “amazing experience” beyond his “wildest dreams.” He said the business was “near and dear” to his heart, and stressed that he and Nussbacher made every effort to support their employees throughout the closures.
“Most of our staff have been with us since we opened,” Friedman said. “Our turnover was very low because we ran the company ethically, we ran it well, and we ran it fairly. So our staff became part of our family, and they didn’t want to leave.”
Shouk closed its last locations just days before a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was reached.
DC for Palestine celebrated the closures as a “BDS win” in an Instagram post, writing:
“Shouk WAS one of the main targets of our ‘APARTHEID? I DON’T BUY IT’ consumer boycott initiative! Much of what they served was Palestinian food that they culturally appropriated as ‘Israeli street food.’ Additionally, they imported Israeli ingredients for their dishes. TODAY WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT, AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2025, SHOUK HAS CLOSED ITS DOORS, PERMANENTLY!”
The group urged supporters to continue boycotting U.S. and local businesses that sell Israeli products.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/24/business/israeli-restaurant-chain-closes-after-getting-hit-by-gaza-protests/
