The Guardian has revised a contentious column about a branch of Gail’s bakery after facing backlash from readers, its own Jewish employees, and the company’s leadership.
Jonathan Liew’s article, which appeared on Saturday with the headline “A corner of north London where food has become a battleground in the Israel-Gaza war”, drew accusations of antisemitism against the business.
Gail’s has faced spurious claims it has ties to Israel’s military and Government because it was founded by an Israeli baker and is part-owned by US investment firm Bain Capital.
The piece was amended on Tuesday evening following criticism that it unfairly targeted the bakery chain after it opened premises in Archway, near a Palestinian cafe.
Critics also argued the article minimised incidents of vandalism at the outlet, where windows were smashed and anti-Zionist graffiti was sprayed twice within a week of opening – incidents treated as hate crimes by the Metropolitan Police.
Editors removed a passage describing the bakery’s opening as “an act of heavy-handed high street aggression” from a section noting that Bain Capital, Gail’s largest shareholder, “invests heavily” in Israeli security firms.
This phrase was relocated to appear alongside references to the chain “accelerating gentrification and squeezing out smaller outlets”, with the additional line “like the multinationals that landed before it” inserted.
The readers’ editor published a note addressing perceptions that the piece had endorsed previous attacks on Gail’s branches.
It explained that a comment contrasting global activism with “small acts of petty symbolism” had been deleted “to avoid misunderstanding”, stating it was never meant to diminish local vandalism but rather highlight its “misdirected futility”.
The Guardian quietly edits ‘antisemitic’ Gail’s column after fury and protests | PA
The standfirst was also stripped from the article, which originally read: “A smashed window here, a provocative sticker there. In an age when protest feels increasingly meaningless, it’s no wonder that acts of petty symbolism are on the rise”.
Approximately 40 demonstrators gathered outside The Guardian’s King’s Cross headquarters on Wednesday to voice their opposition to the article.
Protesters displayed signs and stickers warning that “extremists target Jewish and Israeli businesses” while distributing products from Gail’s bakery.
Media watchdog Camera UK swiped at the newspaper in a statement following the edit.
“So, it was all just a silly misunderstanding. No apology. Nothing to see here – and, certainly no antisemitism,” it said.
Despite the amendments, the changes have not satisfied all parties.
Jewish staff members at The Guardian are said to remain “shocked and angry” that the piece was published at all.
One employee said “large parts of the editorial staff are horrified by stuff like this, but basically nobody ever raises it with the management. People fear for their jobs”.
A journalist who recently departed the newspaper group claimed that divisive opinion pieces on Israel generated engagement, subscriptions and donations, even when they were “poisonous” and “fulminating”.
They said: “It’s impossible to say they’re not aware of what they’re doing, therefore they’re doing it deliberately”.
Another Guardian journalist told The Times: “Perhaps this writer is not qualified to write on this topic if he keeps accidentally stumbling into antisemitic tropes when he tries to tackle it”.
Gail’s chief executive Tom Molnar said on Monday: “We live in a democracy that welcomes different opinions, but we will not accept hate and intimidation in our bakeries”.