18/08/2026
Following the widespread circulation of the footage documenting what happened inside (LAVA Sweets), we believe it is necessary to state our position clearly.
What happened is not a matter of opinion, and what was captured on camera cannot simply be erased through denial or rewritten through a different narrative.
Everyone has the right to disagree with our political views, our identity, our symbols, or our beliefs. But disagreement does not give anyone the right to enter someone else’s premises, interfere with their property, or attempt to impose their views on them.
What has been particularly concerning is not only what happened inside our café, but also seeing people watch the footage and still attempt to justify the behaviour shown in it as though someone’s identity or nationality could give them rights that others do not have.
We categorically reject that principle.
At the same time, we refuse to allow this incident to become a source of hatred toward any people, religion, or nationality. Individuals are responsible for their own actions, and an entire community should never be held responsible for the behaviour of a few.
We are Palestinian, and we will neither hide nor apologise for our identity. Like everyone else, we have the right to live, work, and express our identity peacefully, without feeling unsafe in our own place of work.
We never sought for this incident to become an international story, nor did we seek this level of attention. But as the footage has reached people across different countries, cultures, and languages, the truth remains simpler than all attempts to justify or reinterpret what happened:
Watch what happened. Listen. And judge for yourselves.
We sincerely thank everyone who has stood for dignity, safety, and respect, regardless of nationality, religion, or political opinion.
Words can be denied. Narratives can be changed.
But what the camera documented cannot be rewritten.
History records everything.
