Misspelled Sign Sparks Controversy: Halal Restaurant Mistaken for Hamas Reference

The missing "C" makes the sign read "Hamas Tacos" instead of "Chamas Tacos", the real name of a halal fast-food restaurant located in Valence, in the Drôme. Believing they were reading "Hamas Tacos" during this time of year marked by the war between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas considered a terrorist organization, some residents reported the restaurant. Its manager was far from imagining that the "C" that has not been lit with the other letters for months could harm him. On Wednesday, the municipal police went to Valence to meet him and order him to turn off the defective illuminated sign. Otherwise, his restaurant would be targeted for administrative closure. He complied.

"This story is very serious, it goes too far. The C has been out of order for months. We have had an estimate to redo the entire facade in the coming months. I was unaware until now that Hamas was a terrorist organization. It’s a sad coincidence, pure chance. We are doing business, not politics," the manager told France Bleu. He is surprised by this correlation. "The correlation never occurred to me. Neither I nor my collaborators saw any claim in it," he told Le Figaro. Chamas Tacos is a large franchise today, not a small neighborhood snack bar. Chamas Tacos has about sixty outlets in France and Belgium.