The war in Gaza is thousands of miles away, but the pain from that conflict is felt deep inside the hearts of people who live in San Diego.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs people who come from that culture who are trying to represent that culture, we stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza,\u201d explained Osama Shabaik.<\/p>\n
Shabaik and his business partner, Mahmoud Barkawi, are the cofounders of Tahini Authentic Middle Eastern Street Food<\/a>. The war in Gaza weighs heavily on them both. In a gesture to show their solidarity with Gaza, the businessman decided to stop posting pictures of their food on their Instagram<\/a> because it felt wrong to have the images in feeds that also show people starving because of the war.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are hurting just from seeing everything that’s happening,\u201d Shabaik said.<\/p>\n Oddly enough, the duo recently felt a tinge of guilt while considering their advertising strategy for Tahini. They rely heavily on social media to save money on advertising.<\/p>\n \u201cSocial media is the easiest way to reach an audience without having to pay tremendous amounts of money,\u201d explained Shabaik.<\/p>\n However, the businessmen started to struggle with that advertising. They didn\u2019t like the images they were creating when they appeared next to images of the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don’t want to normalize scrolling, where you see malnourished children, people being intentionally starved, and, \u2018Hey, here\u2019s a plate of shawarma from Tahini,\u2019 \u201d explained Shabaik.<\/p>\n They decided to stop posting pictures of their dishes as a simple gesture to that they stand with Gaza.<\/p>\n An Instagram post from July 23 reads, “As restaurant and coffee shop owners, food is our passion, it’s how we share love, culture and community. But food is also a basic human right. How do we share the act of cooking, or the joy of brewing coffee, when our screens are filled with posts depicting a man-made famine and starvation unfolding in Gaza…. We struggle with the idea of posting about food and drinks when Gazans are being intentionally denied the right to eat, to live and to exist in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n Shabaik said they won\u2019t advertise their food on social media anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a sacrifice, but ultimately it pales in comparison with what people in Gaza are sacrificing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t