Coffee Shop That Refused Service To Jewish Customers Sued By Justice Department

OAKLAND, CA — The federal justice department is suing the owner of an Oakland coffee shop on the grounds that the business violated the Civil Rights Act by refusing service to two Jewish customers, authorities said.

The lawsuit was announced Monday against Fathi Abdulrahim Harara and Native Grounds LLC of Jerusalem Coffee House.

“It is illegal, intolerable, and reprehensible for any American business open to the public to refuse to serve Jewish customers,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, of the department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a news release.

The lawsuit alleges that on two separate occasions Harara ordered Jewish customers — both of whom were wearing baseball caps with Stars of David on them — to leave the coffee house, according to the department.

In one incident, a worker told a Jewish customer who was trying to make a purchase, “You’re the guy with the hat. You’re the Jew. You’re the Zionist. We don’t want you in our coffee shop. Get out,” the news release said.

In another, Harara accused a different Jewish customer, who was with his 5-year-old son, of wearing a “Jewish star,” being a “Zionist” and supporting “genocide,” according to the department, which added that Harara repeatedly demanded the customer and his son leave and accused them of “trespassing” to Oakland police. A partial video of the encounter was posted Oct. 30, 2024, on social media by the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area.

The lawsuit also alleges that, on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, the coffee house announced two new drinks: “Iced In Tea Fada,” an apparent reference to “intifada” and “Sweet Sinwar,” an apparent reference to Yahya Sinwar, the former leader of Hamas, who orchestrated the attacks, the news release said.

The lawsuit further alleges that the coffee shop’s exterior side wall displays inverted red triangles, a symbol of violence against Jews that has been spraypainted on Jewish homes and synagogues in antisemitic attacks, according to the department.

In an interview with KGO, Harara’s lawyer, Glenn Katon, told the outlet neither customer was denied service and the lawsuit is an attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to silence pro-Palestinian voices.

"This, in our view, is very much a political attack. And antisemitism, which is a very real problem in this country and in the world is being distorted and weaponized," Katon told KGO, noting Harara is against antisemitism.

Both customers discussed in the department’s complaint have also filed individual lawsuits against Harara, according to KGO.

In November 2024, The San Francisco Standard published a story reporting that one of the customers included in the department’s lawsuit — Jonathan Hirsch — has had several public confrontations in recent years in which he has accused people of antisemitism.