 |
| Black chalk found on the Cynwyd Heritage Trail declares, in no uncertain terms, "Wawa has pizza." |
BALA CYNWYD—Messages declaring, “Wawa has pizza” have lately been plastered all over southeastern Pennsylvania. The proliferating and unavoidable yet true messages have been appearing graffitied onto billboards, store windows, and even in chalk on the Cynwyd Heritage Trail, which members of several Facebook groups including the Lower Merion Jewish Community and Lower Merion Community Network are calling, “disgusting,” and “horrifyingly anti-Semitic.”
The messages, which are designed to be deeply discomforting and disturbing to those who have loved and supported Wawa for decades, have been taking a toll on American Jews of all ages, from Holocaust survivors to pro-Wawa Jewish college students. According to Temple University junior Yoni Menutak, “To hear that ‘Wawa has pizza’ from the Susquehanna River to the Jersey Shore… Jewish students here just cannot bear it.”
Others have been reacting to the “Wawa has pizza” movement with outright denial. According to Main Line mother Tzarat Ofkim, “Of course, Wawa has a right to sell whichever monstrosity it wants to in order to serve its interests. But to suggest that Wawa has pizza? That’s ridiculous. There is no pizza at Wawa. Those who would suggest it are anti-Wawa fanatics. Any Jew who suggests it is not a real Jew.” Naturally, Hebrew schools in the area have for decades been teaching positive facts and messages about Wawa, like that it’s a modern company and the only safe place for a Jew to receive a ham-and-cheese sandwich.
To understand the Jewish community’s response to the “Wawa has pizza” movement, we consulted Linke Mentsch, Ph.D., noted Jewish Studies Professor at Swarthmore College. They explained to us, “The Jewish community in the Philadelphia region has for decades built its identity around affinity with and support for the Wawa brand. Suggestions that it might be doing something so anathema to human rights as to sell pizza can really generate a strong counter-reaction, even though the allegations are one hundred percent true.” We asked Dr. Mentsch about the response from major Jewish institutions. They explained, “The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia has been raising funds to raise public awareness to counter the narrative and even send money to support Wawa, in exchange for hoagies. It’s a real all-hands-on-deck situation.”
Our investigative reporters have uncovered that some of the messages written on billboards stating, “Wawa has pizza” may have been made by some Wawa employees themselves. When reached for comment in response to these findings, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia told the Jewish Logarithm, “Even if they are made by Jews or even Wawa employees, statements like, ‘Wawa has pizza’ meet the US State Department definition of anti-Semitism, which includes, ‘demonizing, delegitimizing, or applying a double standard to Wawa.’”
Meanwhile, the Wawa corporation has not been denying claims of selling pizza but to the contrary have been bragging about it. CEO Chris Gheysens said at a recent press conference, “We at Wawa will do anything in our power to make sure mom-and-pop pizza shops never proliferate in this region ever again, even if it means they experience a Nakba unlike anything they have experienced before.”
