‘It’s just heartbreaking.’ For Palestinian American businesses, a time of harassment — and support
LOS ANGELES — Last week, Fatmah Muhammad answered a phone call from someone who appeared to be an inquisitive customer.
He knew she was Palestinian American, the caller said, and he was interested in placing an order from her company, Knafeh Queens, which specializes in a sweet-and-savory dessert she learned to make from her mother.
“But make sure you put Israeli flags all over the knafeh,” the caller said, before abruptly hanging up.
Realizing he’d called to harass her, she felt crestfallen, thinking back to a few weeks earlier when someone messaged her company’s Instagram account saying they hoped devastation would befall her family’s hometown in the West Bank.
“That mockery is painful,” she said. “It’s scary.”
But, in recent weeks, she has also gotten inquiries from several new customers eager to support her
