Northeast
Israeli-American chef from Turkish family battles antisemitism, is labeled a 'Nazi' after Oct. 7 terror attack
First-generation Israeli-American Avi Shemtov, a multi-ethnic chef, has confronted racism, antisemitism and shocking charges of White supremacy ever since speaking out against the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, he told Fox News Digital.
“Cry harder, Nazi,” read one attack on social media against the owner of restaurant Simcha in Sharon, Massachusetts, he relayed.
“People have basically called me a White supremacist,” Shemtov said in an interview — despite the fact that his late father’s family is from Asia.
RACIST CLAIMS OF ‘WHITE ISRAEL’ STOKE HATRED, ENDANGER JEWS AND DENY MULTIRACIAL REALITY, SAY EXPERTS
Yona Shemtov was a chef, Sephardic Jew and first member of his Turkish family born in Israel. His uncle was murdered during a period of antisemitic violence in Turkey. The family fled for the new Jewish state in 1949 as it welcomed people of all races and ethnicities from around the world.
Yona Shemtov then moved to the United States in 1972.
Front row, Simcha and Ovadya Shemtov, Sephardic Jews from Turkey who moved to Israel in 1949, where they raised their children. Yona Shemtov (standing, second from right) is the late father of Massachusetts chef Avi Shemtov. The restaurateur has faced antisemitism since he publicly supported Israel after the Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023. (Courtesy Chef Avi Shemtov)
Avi Shemtov opened Simcha in 2019 to celebrate his multicultural heritage and the global influences of modern Israeli cuisine he learned from his father.
Simcha serves Moroccan carrots, Yemenite fried chicken and woodfire-roasted okra — common in East Africa. Its signature dish is shakshuka, a savory tomato stew with influences from Turkey and North Africa.
“Israel enjoys maybe the world’s most diverse food scene because Israel may have the world’s most diverse population.” — Avi Shemtov
“Israel enjoys maybe the world’s most diverse food scene because Israel may have the world’s most diverse population,” said Shemtov, whose mother is Polish-American.
“It has all the diversity found in the United States compressed into an area the size of New Jersey.”
He was typically bemused when guests asked if the woman depicted in a mural on the restaurant wall was Native American.
A pro-Palestinian protester holds a “White Supremacy” sign during a rally held on Wall Street in support of Palestinians on Oct. 26, 2023. The protest was against manufacturers and Wall Street firms investing and creating weapons used in the retaliation bombing of Gaza after the Palestinian militant group launched a deadly attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7. (Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The woman is actually his late grandmother, Simcha.
She and her husband, Ovadya, were Sephardic Jews born and raised in Istanbul before they moved to Israel. Simcha is also the Hebrew word for “joy” or “happiness.”
ISRAELI-AMERICAN RAPPER KOSHA DILLZ FEARLESSLY EMBRACES HERITAGE, SKEWERS ANTISEMITISM IN VIRAL VIDEOS
His grandmother’s ethnicity merely confirmed the restaurant’s purpose, said Shemtov. It showed that the Israeli people, like the food he served, defied a single identity.
After Oct. 7, a concern for safety
But his bemusement turned to anger, activism and concern for the safety of his family in the United States and overseas after the Hamas terror attacks in October.
“Jews have never been indigenous to Israel,” one critic raged at Shemtov on social media, contradicting the entire known history of the Jewish people. “You’re White. White people aren’t indigenous to the Middle East.”
Chef Avi Shemtov is the owner of Simcha, a modern Israeli restaurant in Sharon, Massachusetts. His paternal grandparents and father were Sephardic Jews from Turkey who moved to Israel in 1949; his mother is Polish-American. Avi Shemtov has been called a “Nazi” for publicly supporting Israel’s right to defend itself after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks by Hamas. (Courtesy Chef Avi Shemtov)
Shemtov, a member of the local school committee and a prominent figure in the Boston-area food scene, was shocked when he was confronted by the racism and ignorance at the root of antisemitism in America.
“Nobody would ever call my grandmother White. Nobody ever thought of my father as White,” said Shemtov.
“The reality is that in Israel you will see Jews who look Black, Brown, Asian, African and everything in between.”
“Look at my dad’s family. Do they look White? This is what Israelis look like.”
The image he provided of his grandparents, father, aunts and uncles shows a family with various shades of olive to deep brown skin with dark eyes and thick, dark hair.
“The reality is that in Israel you will see Jews who look Black, Brown, Asian, African and everything in between,” Dan Feferman, a former national security adviser to the Israel Defense Ministry, told Fox News Digital last week.
Simcha Restaurant in Sharon, Massachusetts, is named for Simcha Shemtov, a Turkish-Israeli Sephardic Jew and grandmother of chef-owner Avi Shemtov. His grandmother is often mistaken as Native American. “Simcha” is also the Hebrew word for “joy” or “happiness.” (Courtesy Chef Avi Shemtov/Simcha Restaurant)
“The mischaracterization [that Israelis are White] is wildly inaccurate and unfortunately drives animosity in the Middle East and around the world against Israel.”
More than 1 in 5 of Israel’s 9.4 million residents are Arab, according to the nation’s Central Bureau of Statistics.
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About 72% are Jewish, but more than half of them are, like the Shemtovs, Sephardic.
They are Turkish, Arab, Persian and African, among other ethnicities.
More than 90% of the Jews in America, however, are Ashkenanzi Jews from Europe, said Feferman.
The image of White Jews has been reinforced in American pop culture, from Woody Allen flicks to the classic TV sitcom “Seinfeld.”
Shakshuka, a savory tomato stew with origins in both Turkey and North Africa, is a signature dishe at Simcha, a modern Israeli restaurant in Sharon, Massachusetts, owned by multi-ethnic Sephardic Jewish chef Avi Shemtov. (Adam DeTour photo/courtesy Avi Shemtov)
The narrative of Israel as a White nation is being exploited by organizations such as National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), among those inciting protests around the United States and calling for the destruction of Israel.
“Israel was founded through racism,” the NSJP wrote last year in its online magazine, The Written Resistance.
“If you think for a second I’m going to beg forgiveness … for demanding that our hostages be returned, you’ve misjudged me.” — Avi Shemtov
The attack on Israel continued, “The idea of a state ‘for’ a particular ethnic group is racist because it entails privileging one group over another. Therefore there can be no Jewish state, or any ethnostate for that matter, that is not fundamentally racist.”
The narrative of Israel-Palestine as a race war parroted in protests is also being used to fuel charges of racism used against Israeli-Americans.
Shemtov’s defense of Israel sparked a community petition in November looking to remove him as chair of the local school committee.
This undated photo provided by Rachel Goldberg shows her son Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The 23-year-old Israeli-American was born in California ad lived in Jerusalem. He was last seen when Hamas militants loaded him into the back of a pickup truck with other hostages abducted from a music festival in the western Negev Desert on Oct. 7. (Courtesy of Rachel Goldberg via AP)
“Mr. Shemtov has tried to justify the use of white phosphorous bombs on Palestinian civilians,” one person even charged in a public school committee meeting late last year.
But Shemtov wrote in a social media response to critics, “[My great uncle] was stabbed to death in public as part of the pogroms that expelled Jews from Turkey and other Arab lands.”
So “if you think for a second I’m going to beg forgiveness for expressing my support for my people and for demanding that our hostages be returned, you’ve misjudged me.”
He survived the effort to remove him from elected office with his position intact.
He is still, however, confronting the reality of the ignorance, much of it stoked for political gain, at the root of antisemitism.
Left, a protest declaring Zionism is racism; right, members of Massachusetts chef Avi Shemtov’s Sephardic Jewish family from Israel, via Turkey. (Andy Soloman/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images; courtesy Chef Avi Shemtov)
“There is complete ignorance about Israeli culture and background that leads people to believe this is very much a black-and-white racial cause,” said Shemtov.
“Folks think of Israel as this White European monolith inhabited by people who came to the region in 1948, replacing those who had already been there. Why they don’t realize is that most of us had been there all along.”
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Boston, MA
Free June events: Pride Month, Father’s Day, and more – The Boston Globe
BEACH BASH Head to Revere for its fifth annual Beach Pride Celebration. The outdoor seaside party — in case of rain, revelers will relocate to the Marriott’s Springhill Suites — will feature face-painting, a photo booth, and live DJ and drag performances. Bring your (most sand-friendly) dancing shoes. June 28, 1-6 p.m. Free. Waterfront Square, 500 Ocean Ave, Revere. revere.org
DANCING QUEENS Somerville returns for their annual “Big Gay Dance Party,” featuring drag performances, music from DJ Live, and LGBTQ organizations tabling. This year’s event is themed “Gender Euphoria,” and the organizers encourage guests to dress up whatever makes the feel the most like themselves. June 27, 4:30-8:30 p.m. Free. Union Square Plaza, 90 Union Sq., Somerville. somervilleartscouncil.org/events
PRIDE RIDE Bike lovers, put on your helmets for a community ride celebrating Pride. The Cycle Loft shop hosts a cruise down Vine Brook and Minuteman Bikeway. They will also offer free snacks, drinks, stickers, and temporary tattoos. June 7, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Free. Cycle Loft, 43 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington. trekbikes.com/cycle-loft
ZOO-TIFUL Spend a family day among giraffes, red pandas, flamingos and more. In celebration of Father’s Day, dads will get in for free to the Stone Zoo and Franklin Park Zoo. Tickets are required for all other attendees and can be purchased online or in person. June 21, 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Free for fathers. Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Rd. and Stone Zoo, 149 Pond St., Stoneham. zoonewengland.org

DRAWINGS FOR DAD Need a no-cost (but from the heart) present for pops? Head to the Hyde Park Branch of the Boston Public Library for their Father’s Day Crafts event. The library will provide all materials to make cards and other paper crafts. June 20, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Free. Hyde Park Branch of the Boston Public Library, 35 Harvard Ave., Hyde Park. bpl.bibliocommons.com/events
SYMPHONIC SUNDAY Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) hosts a free Father’s Day Concert at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. Conducted by BMOP artistic director Gil Rose, the ensemble will play works composed by modern American composers, including “Miami Variations” from Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Moravec, “History of the World” by John Aylward, and Avner Dorman’s concerto “Inner Fire,” featuring cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper. June 21, 7-9 p.m. Free. Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music, 30 Gainsborough St. bmop.org

FOOD FEST For the foodie fathers, head over to the Rose Kennedy Greenway for an Asian Food Festival. Attendees can purchase street food, bubble tea, desserts, grilled items, and a variety of other items from different Asian cultures. The event will also feature free entertainment, including Taekwondo demonstrations, cultural dance performances, and a guest Japanese singer. For brewery lovers, the event will also feature a beer garden from Thai company Singha Beer featuring games and merchandise giveaways. June 20, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. and June 21, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. Rose Kennedy Greenway. rosekennedygreenway.org
FAMILY FUN Enjoy the warmer weather at MIT Open Space’s summer party. The outdoor event will feature free soft serve ice cream, herb planting with a horticulturist, a drop-in sketching activity with Blue Mouse Gallery art school, and a performance from the Continuum Dance Project. June 24, 12-2 p.m. Free. Kendall/MIT Open Space, 292 Main St., Cambridge. openspace.mit.edu

BANDS AND BREWS Bask in the sunshine with live music, cornhole, and Giant Jenga at Sam Summer Saturdays. Each week, a musician will take the stage at the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery beer garden. Artists scheduled to perform this month include Pittsfield singer-songwriter Autumn Phoenix (June 6 and 27) and R&B and soul artist Tenille Ja’Nae (June 13 and 20). For seasonal eat and drink, attendees can purchase burgers, hot dogs, and Samuel Adams summer ale. Multiple dates, 1-4 p.m. Free. Samuel Adams Boston Brewery, 30 Germania St. samadamsbostonbrewery.com

ANCHORS AWAY For the aspiring sea captains in your life, Charlestown Marina and Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina invite families to board a ship, make nautical bracelets, and meet representatives from local sailing schools and clubs during their Massachusetts Kids Boating and Fishing Week celebrations. Attendees at Charlestown Marina can also enjoy hot dogs, hamburgers, and chips. Charlestown Marina: June 6, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Pier 6, 1 8th St. Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina: June 7, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 256 Marginal St. Free. masskidsboatingday.org

SUMMER SOLSTICE Mount Auburn Cemetery celebrates the longest day of the year with meditations, live music, and more. Throughout the day, the cemetery will host both free and ticketed activities. No-cost events include an outdoor meditation in the facility’s Hazel Dell (registration required) and a bat net demonstration from Tufts University biology instructor Dr. Chris Richardson. The celebration ends with a pay-what-you-can performance of Celtic and Middle Eastern inspired music from guitarist Ira Klein, the cemetery’s artist in residence, and fiddle player Cate Byrne. June 21, 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Free. Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St, Cambridge. mountauburn.org

GREENWAY GAINS The Rose Kennedy Greenway becomes a free fitness hub this season. From parkour to children’s yoga, the park offers something for everyone. Additional classes include mat pilates, Zumba, yoga, barre, and HIIT workouts. Multiple dates and locations. Free. rosekennedygreenway.org

WATERSIDE WORKOUTS Put on your gym clothes and head to South Boston for a waterfront fitness workout. Sessions include dance workouts, yoga (bring your own mat), and revamp training, a method that combines resistance band exercises, cardio dance, and bodyweight workouts. Multiple dates, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Free. 9 World Trade Center Ave. massport.com/community/events
PARK SERIES During the summer, Boston Parks hosts daily outdoor fitness classes in locations like the Frog Pond, Hynes Playground, and Christopher Columbus Park. Workouts include yoga, Zumba, dance fitness, strength training, and tai chi. Multiple dates and locations. Free, registration recommended. boston.gov/events

SUFFOLK DOWNS SWEAT The Blue Line Flex series returns to Suffolk Downs. From June to September, the Yard at Beachmont Square will host a variety of fitness classes every Tuesday and Thursday from local fitness studios and instructors. Offerings include pilates, yoga, boxing, cardio dance, and high intensity interval training. Saturday sessions will also feature music from a DJ. Multiple dates, Tuesdays, 6 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. Free, registration required. The Yard at Beachmont Square, 10 Suffolk Downs Blvd., Revere. atsuffolkdowns.com
Annie Sarlin can be reached at annie.sarlin@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram @anniesarlinjournalism.
Pittsburg, PA
Kozora: In 2027, Pittsburgh’s Wallet Will Open Wide For Its Offensive Line
Like the offseasons that have preceded it, 2027 will be about the quarterback. Do the Pittsburgh Steelers bank on Will Howard or Drew Allar as the future? Is the answer in the 2027 draft? Is there another door to open? Until there’s a long-term solution, it will always dominate the conversation.
Putting aside the obvious, the other top storyline centers on the men asked to protect the quarterback. Pittsburgh’s 2027 offseason will be defined by paying its offensive line, a good but expensive problem to have.
Even knowing Broderick Jones isn’t likely to receive a new deal, Omar Khan will have discussions with virtually everyone else. The 2023 draft class all could be in line for summer extensions: OT Troy Fautanu, C Zach Frazier and OG Mason McCormick. None will hit free agency until 2028, and Fautanu has the fifth-year option, but all three will be first-time eligible for a deal, and deserving of one. The longer teams wait, the more they pay.
McCormick might be the cheapest, but even that is a relative term. The guard market’s heated up the past two offseason cycles. His going rate could be $20 million per season.
Robert Hunt signed a five-year, $100 million deal with the Carolina Panthers in 2024. This past offseason, Will Fries inked a five-year, $87.72 million, that’s $17.5 mil per year, with the Minnesota Vikings.
Given the salary cap’s projected increase, McCormick could be looking at a similar figure. Perhaps a slightly shorter deal, a four-year extension with his final rookie year rolled into the agreement, but a big money pact all the same.
Although McCormick hasn’t received the fanfare of Frazier or Fautanu, he broke out in 2025. His run and pass blocking improved. He was durable and didn’t miss a single snap.
Frazier’s market has spiked. Thank Tyler Linderbaum for that. He didn’t just reset but shattered the center market this offseason, leaving the Baltimore Ravens for the Las Vegas Raiders on a three-year, $81 million deal. His $27 million APY blows away second place Creed Humphrey and his $18 million mark. Now, every center next to get paid will want to get near that figure.
Unless Frazier truly has an All-Pro seasons, he probably won’t surpass him. Something in the 20-million range, say $22 million per year, is realistic. Frazier’s been steady and solid in the middle, and Pittsburgh won’t want to start its pivot search again.
Then there’s Fautanu. Flipping and likely staying at left tackle, he’s playing a premium position. Even if the thinking is antiquated, blindside protectors still get paid more than their right side counterparts. The Colts’ Bernard Raimann signed a four-year, $100 million contract in July, 2025. In January, Charles Cross went for an average of $26.1 million.
Fautanu will be looking for the same if not more. He’ll definitely want more than whatever Frazier commands at center. Fautanu could push for upwards of $30 million per year if his season is good enough.
There is a caveat. Fautanu’s fifth-year option is due next May, and it’s likely to get be exercised. If so, he’ll be the first by a homegrown Steeler since T.J. Watt. But that also could extend out the timeline of an extension by one season. Minkah Fitzpatrick and Watt had to wait one year from their option due dates to receive their extension. If Fautanu follows the same, his contract won’t come until 2028.
It would be rare for Pittsburgh to get a deal done with Fautanu two years out, but the longer the team waits, the more he’ll cost. And if he has a great year, Pittsburgh, under Omar Khan and Mike McCarthy, who have never been in charge of a fifth year option situation in Pittsburgh before, might think about things differently. Age is a factor, too. Fautanu was an older prospect coming out of school. If Pittsburgh waits until 2028, Fautanu will be 27-going-on-28. Hardly old but the sooner he plays out an extension, the better the odds are for the Steelers to get good return on the deal.
Either way, there will be at least some level of financial component to Fautanu next offseason. Either just his fifth-year option, an amount likely worth over $20 million, and the chance of a long-term pact.
Naturally, this all presumes McCormick, Frazier, and Fautanu stay healthy and play well this season. Health is unpredictable, but it’s reasonable to think all three will continue thriving on the field. Pittsburgh’s invested so much in its offensive line and deserves credit for it. Soon will come the time to keep the group together. The “retain” part of draft, develop, retain.
Fautanu and McCormick are shifting back to their college homes. Frazier has been nothing but excellent out of the gate. Pittsburgh won’t want to break the band up.
In average value, the deals could look like this:
Mason McCormick: $20 million per season
Zach Frazier: $22-23 million per season
Troy Fautanu: $28 million per season (potentially $30 million-plus if his timeline waits another season).
Big, big money.
They aren’t the only ones to think about. Dylan Cook might be one of the most interesting debates next year. He’s slated to become a restricted free agent that can pay him the first substantial money of his NFL career.
A refresher: teams can place a tender on a RFA: first, second, or original round. The other 31 teams can still submit a contract offer. If Pittsburgh declines to match, they lose the player but gain the pick corresponding to the tender.
Here’s 2027’s tender projections:
First Round: $8.735 million
Second Round: $6.261 million
Original Round: $3.822 million
Because Cook went undrafted, the original round tender would only give Pittsburgh the right of first refusal and the opportunity to match the contract. If not, they won’t receive a draft pick back.
That puts the team in an interesting position. Apply the original round tender and the team could save money. But it also opens themselves to teams submitting an offer for a still-young tackle without getting any compensation in return.
Applying the second round tender makes more sense. But it will cost more. Likely behind Max Iheanachor and Fautanu, he’ll be an expensive backup.
What’s the right answer? Hard to say. But paying for good offensive linemen is worth it, and the money “saved” by declining Broderick Jones’ fifth-year option can be applied to Cook.
There’s other names to consider. Spencer Anderson is in the final year of his rookie deal. Gennings Dunker appears to be the long-term hope, but what if Anderson wins the starting right guard job and holds onto it? It won’t be so easy to just let him walk. Brock Hoffman signed a one-year deal and will be a free agent next year. Will Pittsburgh re-sign him for depth? They could.
Then, there’s Jones. His future with the team looks bleak, but is there a scenario in which he returns? As Dave Bryan outlined on the podcast, Jones’ contract, in theory, could toll and roll over into 2027 if, and it’s a big if, he spends the entire 2026 season on Reserve/PUP due to his neck injury.
If not and he becomes a free agent, would Pittsburgh sign him back as a swing tackle? Probably not, but if Jones walks, and Cook gets poached on the tender, the team’s depth will have taken a big hit.
Pittsburgh’s 2027 offseason could be similar to 2014. That June, Maurkice Pouncey signed a five-year extension to become the NFL’s highest-paid center. Two months later, Marcus Gilbert signed his own five-year deal. It was part of an effort to keep the group intact.
This time around, Pittsburgh could pay three players and for substantially more money. Combined, Pouncey and Gilbert’s contracts amounted to about $74 million. Any one of Frazier’s, McCormick’s, or Fautanu’s deals could surpass that.
These aren’t complaints. Having talented draft picks to pay is welcome news for a team who has missed far too often. Only one selection of the 2020 class, EDGE Alex Highsmith, saw a multi-year second contract.
Ditto with the 2021 group – TE Pat Freiermuth. The 2022 class had none. Opening up the wallet for these names is what a team wants. But it’s a storyline and projection that hasn’t been discussed much, and one worth getting in front of.
It’s also relevant for national talking heads like Colin Cowherd who criticize the team for spending so much on defense. Those scales will tip back if these deals get done.
McCormick. Fautanu. Frazier. Cook. Anderson. Jones. Hoffman. All offensive line decisions to work through.
Answers will come in time. There’s an entire season to play, and what we expect now versus next year’s reality are often different things. But the last time we did this, we noted George Pickens’ future would come into focus in the 2025 offseason. It did by Pittsburgh trading him to Dallas.
General managers have to be forward-thinking, especially with these large contracts that will impact the cap. Having a quarterback on a cheap contract will help, and Pittsburgh should have the money to sign whoever they want.
Next offseason will be a busy one. Quarterback will grab the national headlines, but the offensive line will be where the money, and important decisions, will be made.
Connecticut
Man shot while riding a moped in North Haven
The North Haven Police Department is continuing to investigate after a male was shot while riding a moped on Sunday night.
According to police, a 20-year-old male was shot in the area of Whitney Avenue near the Hamden town line.
The victim sustained non-life-threatening serious injuries and was transported to the hospital.
No other information has been released.
Police are continuing to investigate, and say that there will be a heavy police presence in the area of Whitney Avenue and Skiff Street.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the North Haven Police Department.
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