Philly Plain Dealer

On Wednesday morning (5/15) Jasmine Taibi-Bennoui and her Fiance came into the Lombard Cafe for work only to discover that the cafe had been vandalized. 

Perpetrators had broken in through the back of the cafe and pried open the backdoor which is connected to the apartment building next door. The perpetrators pulled camera cords and broke cameras, so no footage could to identify them. Jasmine went to the Mother Bethel church across the street to see if the Reverend had any footage of the incident.

Besides debris, Jasmine noticed that the individuals who broke in left Israeli flag stickers all over the front of the shop, but on the side of the building there were the same stickers but with white fists over Israeli flags, which under further investigation she found out this was a symbol for a Jewish Terrorist group. 

 The individuals who did this took nothing from the shop, it appeared as an act of intimidation. 

“I’d understand if anything was taken, but nothing was taken so the intent was to intimidate and to silence me,” Said Jasmine 

As a business the Lombard Cafe has aired on the side of caution in the information they have posted on their socials in regard to the war in Gaza. Jasmine relayed, they didn’t want to be the entity pushing political ideas down anyone’s throat. Lombard Cafe’s instagram had posted a death toll graph about both sides of the Gaza conflict as well as a Desmond Tutu quote about silence and oppression and what side one ends up on in the injustices one sees in war. 

“I’ve been fighting for Palestine since I was a small child, my parents were very forward, I’m a first generation algerian. When I see it in real time I’m gonna call it out,” Said Jasmine

Back in November of 2023 Lombard Cafe had an art show that had over 200 artists contribute art. The proceeds went to the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is an organization that provides aid to the RAFAH border. The organization was suggested by the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition. The turnout was great, but in turn fueled hatred by some of those in the community. 

Since the beginning of November 2023 Jasmine had reported 8 incidents of harassment and  physical violence to the Philadelphia Police Department. 

“I feel unsafe. I’ve let the police know about all these instances. I dont think fast enough to whip out my phone when things happen,” She Said

Two separate incidents occurred where 2 different males at different times attacked a muslim customer in Lombard Cafe. Jasmine said nothing happened to them, they are people from the community and former customers of the coffee shop, not just random individuals. Jasmine stated that she has given the police all the tools necessary to carry out their investigation, she’s given them names, addresses and photos that they’ve needed to resolve these issues.

“Both of these incidents were reported and cops were called immediately. They told me I’m not able to press charges because I don’t have the footage from it. I don’t believe that, I understand it’s hard to get a Protection From Abuse (PFA) granted when the person that’s harassing you doesn’t have a personal relationship with you, understood. But at the same time I’ve done my due diligence I dont believe theres nothing the police department can do,” Said Jasmine 

Jasmine also stated that until the incident that occurred Wednesday morning was put into a recently released instagram post by the Lombard Cafe, it’s been radio silence from the Police Department and Detectives. Since the post on Wednesday Morning, Detectives, the Civil affairs office and both District Police Offices sent people to investigate. 

“I push forward, I’m not asking for sympathy, I’m asking for these people to be brought to  justice. I’ve been totally silent up until now. Not engaging with these people who have been committing these acts. It’s no longer safe for me to just sit around and wait for the job to be done. The resistance to calling these acts a hate crime is beyond me. Someone is pushing me to the ground calling me a terrorist. The line has been crossed many times,” 

This has also put Jasmine and her staff in a difficult position. 

“ You can call this a war between two religious groups, but I am a muslim woman. I have jewish staff members who have been thrown the most obscene hate slurs at them by these same jewish people. It’s one thing to say it’s Islamaphoic behavior, but my staff is dealing with antisemitism assaults as well. I don’t believe these people’s behavior is faith based, I don’t believe there is a positive goal in what they’re doing they are just trying to intimidate and silence us and push us out of the neighborhood that we’ve been a part of for over a decade,” Said Jasmine 

Jasmine has worked at the Lombard cafe for the last 6 ½ years but was given ownership over the shop for the last 2 years. Alongside running the coffee shop, she takes care of many children in the Society Hill neighborhood.

“As shocked as I am by the angry response. It is incredibly difficult to pay attention to that because of the support from our friends and community. It feels like isolation when you’re quietly dealing with this stuff. but now that we’ve been more public about what we’ve been dealing with,the support has been unreal and it has really carried us.” Said Jasmine

Community members and individuals  from allied organizations have come to the cafe on rotating schedules and have been present to make sure Jasmine and her staff are safe enough while working. Jasmine and the Lombard Cafe are not active members of any organizing group at the moment. She shows up to events on her own and acts independently.

Today, Friday (5/17) at 10:30am, the organization Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Philadelphia will be holding a press conference outside of the Lombard Cafe. The organization plans to hold law enforcement accountable and explore the hate crime angle for this reported harassment, condemn the ongoing vandalism and address the tactics that targeted the cafe.