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Jerusalem Coffee House in Oakland, California, remained closed Wednesday after temporarily shutting its doors last week to focus on three lawsuits alleging it discriminated against Jewish customers, including a father and his 5-year-old son, as the Palestinian-owned café prepares for a federal civil rights trial set for October.
The coffee house announced in August that it would stop operating after Aug. 23 while its owners prepared for the litigation, including a Justice Department case scheduled for trial Oct. 26. A federal judge previously rejected the defendants’ attempt to dismiss the DOJ lawsuit, which alleges Fathi Abdulrahim Harara and employees refused service to Jewish customers wearing Star of David caps and followed them outside while hurling insults and threats.
The café blamed its legal problems on efforts to suppress its pro-Palestinian politics in an August statement on Substack, announcing the closure.
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“These lawsuits represent the ongoing efforts of Zionist organizations and the federal government to use the courts as a tool to repress free speech and public political commitments to Palestine,” it said.
California Republican Party Jewish engagement chair and attorney Elizabeth Barcohana criticized the shop’s defense of its conduct in a statement to Fox News Digital Wednesday.
“It is ironic that after freely expressing support for terrorism with these beverage names, the café owners appear to now be using the First Amendment as a defense for ejecting two Jewish customers who wore hats with Stars of David on them, in one case calling it a ‘violent’ hat,” she said. “By their own standard, if a hat can be violent, so can an iced tea. The First Amendment protects speech on hats; it does NOT protect businesses open to the public to discriminate against its customers because they’re Jews while chasing them in the street shouting ‘Jew’ at them.”
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“On the one year anniversary of October 7th, a Palestinian terrorist attack against innocent civilians that killed over 1,200 people and took hundreds of hostages including children and Americans, Jerusalem Coffee Shop in Oakland unveiled a new menu celebrating terrorism. Beverage items named ‘Iced in Tea Fada’ celebrate Intifada (an Arabic call to violence signifying resistance by any means necessary, including terrorism) and ‘Sweet Sinwar’ honoring the principal architect behind the attack,” she added.
The coffee shop co-founder previously denied that “Sweet Sinwar” referred to the Hamas leader and said the menu’s Oct. 7 rollout coincided with the business’ anniversary rather than the anniversary of the Hamas attack, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Barcohana said she hoped the current shutdown would ultimately become permanent.
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“The owners have temporarily closed the coffee shop while they defend this discrimination lawsuit against them,” she said. “Hopefully it remains permanently closed.”
The Justice Department filed its case in June 2025 under Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Anti-Defamation League and Benesch sued on behalf of Michael Radice, who alleges he was refused service and subjected to antisemitic slurs, while the Louis D. Brandeis Center filed a state lawsuit on behalf of Jonathan Hirsch, who was ejected with his young son after Harara confronted him over his Star of David hat.
When the Justice Department announced its case, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said federal public-accommodation laws applied regardless of the business’ political views.
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“It is illegal, intolerable, and reprehensible for any American business open to the public to refuse to serve Jewish customers,” she said. “Through our vigorous enforcement of Title II of the Civil Rights Act and other laws prohibiting race and religious discrimination, the Justice Department is committed to combatting antisemitism and discrimination and protecting the civil rights of all Americans.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Jerusalem Coffee House and the DOJ for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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