PA condemns Jerusalem food truck festival as ‘cultural Judaization’

PA: “Jerusalem will remain Palestinian despite all attempts at erasure and Judaization.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has issued a fierce condemnation of the “Auto Ochel” food festival currently taking place at the Armon Hanatziv Promenade in southern Jerusalem, accusing Israel of using culinary and cultural events to push what it calls a “colonial agenda.”

In a statement released Monday, the PA’s Jerusalem Governorate alleged that the festival is part of a broader Israeli effort to “erase the Palestinian identity of Jerusalem” and “impose an artificial cultural reality.”

The PA described the event as an instrument of “cultural Judaization,” intended to distort Jerusalem’s history and present the city as inherently Jewish.

The “Auto Ochel” festival, now in its final week, is a four-week celebration featuring food trucks offering kosher dishes from Jerusalem-based restaurants and renowned Israeli chefs.

Prices are capped at 45 NIS per dish, and the event includes live music and light shows aiming to draw in families and tourists alike.

Despite the festive atmosphere, the PA portrays the event as anything but benign. It claims such activities are part of a “series of Judaizing cultural events” that “promote false narratives” and present “fabricated cultural elements.”

According to the statement, the true objective is to “give the occupied city a Jewish character” and “serve the Israeli colonial project.”

“These festivals are a cover for imposing a new colonial reality,” the governorate said, escalating its rhetoric by calling for “popular and international confrontation of these practices.”

The statement concluded with a defiant assertion: “Jerusalem will remain Palestinian despite all attempts at erasure and Judaization … these policies will not succeed in changing reality or erasing the collective memory of our people.”

While Israel celebrates the diversity and accessibility of events like Auto Ochel, the PA continues to reject any cultural activity that highlights Jewish heritage in Jerusalem, insisting it undermines Palestinian claims to the city.