Georgia Gilholy: We should all shop at Gail’s. It’s a beverage and pastry based counter-protest
What would you do if you ran things?
Georgia L Gilholy is a journalist.
It is often said that “in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”.
Funnily enough, this quote itself is often falsely attributed to George Orwell. But regardless of who did or did not coin it, this memeified phrase strikes at something important. Indeed, sometimes as little as buying an overpriced iced matcha latte can feel revolutionary in deeply conformist London. This is especially true if one is doing so, not merely to lap up some delicious green caffeine, but to prove a point.
It is for this reason, I have henceforth decided to take a detour en route to my local tube station, in order to pick up something from Gail’s Bakery.
Yes, this is indeed a divisive thing to do, given that the chain’s newest branch in Archway, North London, has been vandalised twice in the same week. Aside from the usual string of anti-Israel slogans scribbled across the cafe, one simply read “Support Local businesses”. Is it not presumably better to support such businesses by offering them your custom, rather than ordering graffiti spray off Amazon and dousing rival eateries with it?
That numerous anti-Gail’s placards and graffiti also omit a vital apostrophe of possession tells us all we need to know about these charlatans’ poor attention to detail.
Luke Johnson, who masterminded Gail’s expansion and sale to Boston-based Bain Capital, and remains an investor, was a Brexit supporter and high-profile critic of the government’s tyrannical COVID-19 policies. He has also slammed net-zero zealotry. This is unusually gutsy for today’s typical high-profile businessman, who generally seeks to keep their head down and succumb to the whinging bien pensant, who have increasingly directed their ire toward Israel.
Johnson has also courageously bucked the trend on the matter of the Middle East, praising the so-called “Start-Up Nation’s” entrepreneurial grit, and slamming “the deranged defence of Hamas” in academia. While Johnson is not Jewish or Israeli, Gail’s founder, the baker Yael Mejia is both. The chain is therefore named, not after Coronation Street’s chaotic matriarch, but using the anglicised version of Yael: Gail. Although Mejia is no longer financially linked to the chain which calls her its namesake, Bain Capital reportedly has some investments in private companies based in Israel.
Is Israel committing a “genocide” as these anti-Gail’s goons claim in their messy graffiti? No, it is engaged in a war of self-defence.
Is Gail’s an Israeli company? No.
Even if it were an Israeli company, would that make it automatically complicit or approving of any and all actions ever taken by the Israeli government or military? No, especially given that Israel, unlike China, Russia, Iran and Qatar (who have far more …
What would you do if you ran things?
Georgia L Gilholy is a journalist.
It is often said that “in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”.
Funnily enough, this quote itself is often falsely attributed to George Orwell. But regardless of who did or did not coin it, this memeified phrase strikes at something important. Indeed, sometimes as little as buying an overpriced iced matcha latte can feel revolutionary in deeply conformist London. This is especially true if one is doing so, not merely to lap up some delicious green caffeine, but to prove a point.
It is for this reason, I have henceforth decided to take a detour en route to my local tube station, in order to pick up something from Gail’s Bakery.
Yes, this is indeed a divisive thing to do, given that the chain’s newest branch in Archway, North London, has been vandalised twice in the same week. Aside from the usual string of anti-Israel slogans scribbled across the cafe, one simply read “Support Local businesses”. Is it not presumably better to support such businesses by offering them your custom, rather than ordering graffiti spray off Amazon and dousing rival eateries with it?
That numerous anti-Gail’s placards and graffiti also omit a vital apostrophe of possession tells us all we need to know about these charlatans’ poor attention to detail.
Luke Johnson, who masterminded Gail’s expansion and sale to Boston-based Bain Capital, and remains an investor, was a Brexit supporter and high-profile critic of the government’s tyrannical COVID-19 policies. He has also slammed net-zero zealotry. This is unusually gutsy for today’s typical high-profile businessman, who generally seeks to keep their head down and succumb to the whinging bien pensant, who have increasingly directed their ire toward Israel.
Johnson has also courageously bucked the trend on the matter of the Middle East, praising the so-called “Start-Up Nation’s” entrepreneurial grit, and slamming “the deranged defence of Hamas” in academia. While Johnson is not Jewish or Israeli, Gail’s founder, the baker Yael Mejia is both. The chain is therefore named, not after Coronation Street’s chaotic matriarch, but using the anglicised version of Yael: Gail. Although Mejia is no longer financially linked to the chain which calls her its namesake, Bain Capital reportedly has some investments in private companies based in Israel.
Is Israel committing a “genocide” as these anti-Gail’s goons claim in their messy graffiti? No, it is engaged in a war of self-defence.
Is Gail’s an Israeli company? No.
Even if it were an Israeli company, would that make it automatically complicit or approving of any and all actions ever taken by the Israeli government or military? No, especially given that Israel, unlike China, Russia, Iran and Qatar (who have far more …
Georgia Gilholy: We should all shop at Gail’s. It’s a beverage and pastry based counter-protest
What would you do if you ran things?
Georgia L Gilholy is a journalist.
It is often said that “in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”.
Funnily enough, this quote itself is often falsely attributed to George Orwell. But regardless of who did or did not coin it, this memeified phrase strikes at something important. Indeed, sometimes as little as buying an overpriced iced matcha latte can feel revolutionary in deeply conformist London. This is especially true if one is doing so, not merely to lap up some delicious green caffeine, but to prove a point.
It is for this reason, I have henceforth decided to take a detour en route to my local tube station, in order to pick up something from Gail’s Bakery.
Yes, this is indeed a divisive thing to do, given that the chain’s newest branch in Archway, North London, has been vandalised twice in the same week. Aside from the usual string of anti-Israel slogans scribbled across the cafe, one simply read “Support Local businesses”. Is it not presumably better to support such businesses by offering them your custom, rather than ordering graffiti spray off Amazon and dousing rival eateries with it?
That numerous anti-Gail’s placards and graffiti also omit a vital apostrophe of possession tells us all we need to know about these charlatans’ poor attention to detail.
Luke Johnson, who masterminded Gail’s expansion and sale to Boston-based Bain Capital, and remains an investor, was a Brexit supporter and high-profile critic of the government’s tyrannical COVID-19 policies. He has also slammed net-zero zealotry. This is unusually gutsy for today’s typical high-profile businessman, who generally seeks to keep their head down and succumb to the whinging bien pensant, who have increasingly directed their ire toward Israel.
Johnson has also courageously bucked the trend on the matter of the Middle East, praising the so-called “Start-Up Nation’s” entrepreneurial grit, and slamming “the deranged defence of Hamas” in academia. While Johnson is not Jewish or Israeli, Gail’s founder, the baker Yael Mejia is both. The chain is therefore named, not after Coronation Street’s chaotic matriarch, but using the anglicised version of Yael: Gail. Although Mejia is no longer financially linked to the chain which calls her its namesake, Bain Capital reportedly has some investments in private companies based in Israel.
Is Israel committing a “genocide” as these anti-Gail’s goons claim in their messy graffiti? No, it is engaged in a war of self-defence.
Is Gail’s an Israeli company? No.
Even if it were an Israeli company, would that make it automatically complicit or approving of any and all actions ever taken by the Israeli government or military? No, especially given that Israel, unlike China, Russia, Iran and Qatar (who have far more …
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