Videos of people demonstrating for causes they have limited knowledge of, but an abundance of passion, have been going viral since the internet made it possible.  And I have one of the best examples of someone’s zealousness getting a little ahead of their intelligence in this video!

According to a story in the Montclair Local news page, a restaurant in New Jersey, Efi’s Gyro, is the setting for our story.  Keep in mind, Efi’s is a Greek restaurant owned by a Greek family.  It may also help to know that the Greek flag is blue and white, as is the Israeli flag.

You may have guessed by now where this is going.

The owner of a gyro shop on a prominent corner in Montclair confirmed that Greek flags the business draped on decorative lights in front of the restaurant were ripped down earlier this year after they were mistaken for Israeli flags.

The bias crime at Efi’s Gyro garnered attention on Tuesday after a woman posted a viral video on TikTok of herself ripping down the flags and lights, then apologizing when told they were Greek flags. The woman references the Israel-Gaza War.

I tend to give people a lot of grace in the way of knowing things like the difference between the Greek flag and the Israeli flag.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ll judge you if I find out you don’t know the difference.  But I’ll keep it on the inside.  (That’s not exactly how grace works… just making a point.)

The difference is when you take your lack of knowledge, and instead of informing yourself to see if what you’ve been told is correct, you skip that part altogether and go right to JUSTICE WARRIOR MODE —  just slow down there, “warrior”.  If you can’t tell the difference in the flags, you probably don’t have a clue about the deeper realities, either.

Maybe just sit down and have a Gyro?

But… no.  That’s not what happens.  That impassioned zealousness must have an outlet!  How else are we going to feel good about ourselves in our current underinformed state without feeding into the cognitive dissonance that NEEEEEEDS for us to not only be “right” — but to be “righter” than everyone else (who we’ve been told we don’t like or agree with).

Woman tears down a string of flags outside of the Eli’s Gyro restaurant because she thought it was for Israel. After accusing the restaurant staff of supporting a genocide, they told her “this is Greek” pic.twitter.com/qKgHyV6p7d

— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) October 16, 2024

That’s certainly a moment of clarity at the end.  The best part is that she apparently filmed the entire thing herself, uploaded it (somehow still finding a way to celebrate her own ignorance), and only later deleted it when it didn’t receive quite the reception she’d expected.

Efthymia “Efi” Mihalis, owner of the restaurant at Bloomfield Avenue and Park Street, said she reported the crime to police when it happened back in March.

“All I want to say is that it was not a skit and that it happened eight months ago,” Mihalis told Montclair Local. “I filed a report eight months ago and nothing happened.”

Police Chief Todd Conforti and another officer were seen at the shop on Wednesday morning. No flags were visible, and the decorative lights remained.

Mihalis said the visit Wednesday from police, which follows the viral video, was the first time officers contacted her to inquire about the report.

“They only reached out today. They didn’t reach out when it happened,” Mihalis said, adding: “How would they find the girl?”

Following publication of this article, Montclair Police Lt. Terence Turner said officers met with the shop owner on March 12.

“They then reviewed the surveillance footage from the restaurant and determined the same female suspect had been in the establishment a week or so prior and was handing out fliers in support of Palestine,” Turner said. “Ms. Mihalis then provided the surveillance to the detectives.”

If you couldn’t hear towards the end of the video, after she realizes it isn’t her arch nemesis, the Israeli flag, she first apologizes — “Really? I thought it was Israel.  My bad.”  And then asks if he wants the flags back!  (Ouch!  I think I just popped a few brain cells taking that in.)

This is the average level of Gen Z anti-Zionist intelligence pic.twitter.com/LLpOyGpbQr

— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@DrewPavlou) October 16, 2024

According to the story in the Montclair Local article, the incident is still under investigation and the woman has apparently not been found.

As of Sept. 30, Montclair police had reported 17 bias incidents to the state this year, according to data from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. It marks an increase from the 12 bias incidents reported by township police during all of 2023, state figures show. Statewide, 2008 bias or hate crimes were reported in January – September of this year, according to the state data, which shows 2,699 such crimes reported in all of 2023.

Mihalis said community members have been kind to the shop after learning of the flag ripping.

“They’re very supportive after what happened,” she said. “It was not predicted at all. It was out of nowhere.”

Let that be a lesson to all Greek restaurant owners; if they have the audacity to display a flag that resembles the Israeli flag in almost no way except for the fact that it doesn’t have the star of David on it (I said what I said), you’re taking a big chance that a zealous braincell impaired individual might just pull it down and rip it up.

But if you’re lucky, the person might also be dumb enough to film it, upload it, and bring you an outpouring of positive vibes from the community as a whole.  You can always find the silver lining in these stories.  Just… be careful that your silver lining doesn’t resemble the Israeli flag, and by that I mean that even if it doesn’t, at all, resemble the Israeli flag… someone might just attempt to tear up your silver lining.  And that wouldn’t be good at all.