Feds Sue Jerusalem Coffee, An Oakland Cafe that Allegedly Kicked Out Jewish Customers

Jerusalem Coffee House, a small Oakland cafe on the northern edge of the city’s Temescal neighborhood, is easy to miss if you’re not looking for it.

But this unassuming cafe found itself in the crosshairs of the federal government on Monday, after the U.S. Justice Department sued the cafe’s owner, accusing him of refusing to serve two Jewish customers.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, argues that Abdulrahim Harara violated the Civil Rights Act when he allegedly kicked two people out of his cafe in separate incidents last year for wearing baseball caps emblazoned with the Jewish Star of David.

Widely circulated video footage from a confrontation in October shows Harara, whose family is from Gaza, angrily telling a customer named Jonathan Hirsch to “Get out of my business.” Pointing to Hirsch’s cap, Harara said, “This is a violent hat and you need to leave.”

“You can’t ask me to leave because of my religion,” Hirsch said during the heated exchange, as his 5-year-old son watched.

“I’m not asking you to leave because of that,” Harara responded. “Are you a Zionist? Then get out!”

The DOJ lawsuit also cites a second incident several months earlier, in which Harara and cafe employees allegedly kicked out another Jewish man for wearing a similar hat.

Both men have filed separate discrimination lawsuits against the cafe, accusing its owner of religious discrimination and violating their civil rights.

Federal attorneys also say the cafe announced a new menu that included several beverages with controversial names to mark one year after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, when Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.

The suit alleges that one juice drink, dubbed “Sweet Sinwar,” is named for slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who is often credited as the mastermind of the attacks. Another drink, called “Iced In Tea Fada,” is allegedly a reference to “intifada,” an Arabic word that means rebellion or uprising.

“You can’t do that. And so we’ve sued them and we’re gonna stop this from happening,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday. “And anywhere in the country, if you do this, we’re coming after you.”

Omer Wiczyk, an attorney with the Brandeis Center who is representing Hirsch in a separate suit filed in Alameda County Superior Court, called the incident “horrifying.”

Asked if his client intended to stoke tensions by wearing the hat, Wiczyk said any narrative that portrays Hirsch as a provocateur is “utter garbage and nonsense.” Hirsch knew nothing about the cafe and its ideology, and had only gone there because his son needed to use the bathroom, the attorney said.

“He walked into the location, ordered a drink, went to the restroom, came out and was essentially accosted,” said Wiczyk, noting that incidents of antisemitism in the U.S. have surged since the start of the conflict in Gaza. He pointed to the murder of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C., last month and the recent violent attack on a group of people in Boulder, Colorado, marching in support of Israeli hostages.

“So we’re very happy that the Justice Department is stepping in and doing exactly what it’s supposed to be doing — which is not letting people or businesses in this country think it’s OK to exclude Jews because they’re Jews,” he said, adding that while federal officials contacted him about the lawsuit, he is not directly coordinating with them.

“Enough is enough. Regardless of your position on what’s going on in Gaza or in the state of Israel,” he said, “it’s got to stop.”

The Trump administration’s most recent offensive comes amid its ongoing efforts to quash what it calls rampant antisemitism in the United States. But critics, including a number of prominent Jewish leaders, have accused the administration of exploiting antisemitism to target universities and other institutions it deems antithetical to its political agenda.

In April, five Jewish Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to the president condemning his administration’s “assault on universities,” and accusing it of using “a real crisis as a pretext to attack people and institutions who do not agree with you.”

This lawsuit is a good example of that, said Harara, who maintains that Israel is committing genocide, but adamantly denies he was being antisemitic in either of the incidents. He insists the administration’s action against him is a blatant “political ploy.”

“They’re trying to overwhelm us with corrupt power. It’s fascism protecting fascism,” Harara said on Wednesday afternoon, as customers in his cafe worked quietly on their laptops, large pieces of original art adorning the walls behind them. “This is all about protecting Zionism.”

Harara declined to comment on the specific incidents, but said the Justice Department contacted him about it two weeks ago. He has since hired two lawyers, he said.

Clad in chartreuse sweatpants, Harara has shoulder-length curly hair and a striking gaze. He said he opened his cafe — which he said he named after what he considers the capital of Palestine — in 2023, just months before the Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s subsequent bombardment and blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza that has so far killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

Harara pointed to an ornately lettered poem in Arabic painted across the back wall of his cafe that he said was written by an ancient Islamic theologian from Gaza.

“The rough translation is that he longs for the land of Palestine and would use soil from the ground as a cover for eyes,” he said.

Despite his strong political views, Harara said he “abhors antisemitism,” and wants people from all walks of life to feel welcome at his business.

“This place,” he said, “was created for everyone.”