By taking off on a nine-day junket to Israel, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin not only shirked his responsibilities to city residents, but also made a mockery of his own progressive pretensions and the city’s proud tradition of opposition to apartheid. Arreguin didn’t dare mention the trip on twitter, though others on the Israel lobby-sponsored junket said they “danced till our feet hurt.”

It is a familiar scenario. A Palestinian voice that defies a rigidly enforced popular narrative rises and is heard. Gatekeeper pro-Israel organizations, purporting to represent the entire Jewish community, spring into outraged action and whip up Islamophobic hysteria that terrorism and antisemitism lurk where Palestinian political expression is allowed. This scenario is playing out today, as the right-wing, pro-Israel brigade vilifies Reem’s California, an Arab street-corner bakery in Oakland, CA, as promoting terrorism and hatred of Jews and seeks to drive it out of business. Against this background, the local community, as well as social justice organizations, have rallied to Reem’s side.