Behind the Counter, a New Political Force Takes On The New York Post and Trump

[BeyondGeography]

Yemeni-American bodega owners in New York City organized a boycott of the newspaper over what they see as anti-Muslim bias.

Stepping into his Brooklyn bodega, Mohammed Almuntaser recalled how his heart sank. Staring up at him from the entryway was a copy of The New York Post, with a picture of the World Trade Center in flames on the cover and a headline attacking a Muslim member of Congress, Ilhan Omar.

“It was disgusting. It was racist. I couldn’t believe this racist thing was sitting at my store,” said Mr. Almuntaser, 29, who owns four bodegas in the city. “The very next day, I told everyone who works at my stores not to accept the paper.”

He was not alone, and a boycott of The Post began.

...In 2017, Yemeni-American bodega owners closed their shops for a day and rallied in Downtown Brooklyn against Mr. Trump’s Muslim travel ban, which separated some Yemeni husbands in New York from wives and children abroad.

After The Post cover was published on April 11, the community’s two-year-old trade association, the Yemeni American Merchant Association (YAMA), again called for action.

The association asked Yemeni-American bodega owners in the city to stop selling The Post until it issues an apology to Ms. Omar and Muslim-Americans in New York. Of the roughly 10,000 bodegas in the city, YAMA estimated that between 4,000 and 6,000 are owned by Yemeni-Americans.

“We have the power and tools to do something about this. We have thousands of stores which, from an economic perspective, can make an impact,” said Rabyaah Althaibani, a Yemeni-American organizer and member of YAMA.

More at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/nyregion/yemeni-bodegas-ny-post-boycott.html

[robbedvoter]

1. Good. But nobody reads the post anyway.

It's garbage.

[marble falls]

2. Democracy in action, amd it does work.