The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Jerusalem Coffee House shop in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, alleging that the store denied service to Jewish customers last year in violation of federal civil rights law.
As Michael Radice passed the coffee shop in June 2024, a man sitting at a table in front of the shop asked him, “Are you a Jew?” Radice, who was wearing a hat emblazoned with “Am Yisrael chai,” Hebrew for “the nation of Israel lives,” answered in the affirmative, per the lawsuit.
The man then asked, “Are you a Zionist?” Radice said that he didn’t want to answer, prompting the man to accuse him of complicity with Israel’s actions in its ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including “killing children.” As Radice walked away, the man stood up and yelled, “Where are you going?”
Another man, identified in the lawsuit as Fathi Abdulrahim Harara, the owner of the shop, then approached the man, who shouted at Radice. The two spoke and proceeded to walk into the coffee house.
A couple of months later, Radice was on his way to a nearby fundraiser and went into the coffee shop to buy a cookie as “a sign of goodwill,” per the lawsuit. He saw Harara, the man who shouted at him, and another staff member working behind the counter.
The man who shouted at him said, “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,” per the lawsuit. Another employee also told Radice to leave while making a gesture toward the front door, per court documents.
As Radice left the coffee shop, Harara and the two employees allegedly shouted “Jew” and “Zionist” at him and followed him, prompting Radice to hide behind a car in the middle of the street.
Harara and the two coffee-shop employees allegedly “continued to yell insults and epithets” at Radice, even as he met up with a member of the board of a nonprofit that he directs and was holding a nearby meeting. As Radice told his colleague what had happened, Harara and the employees continued to insult him until the two entered the building.
Another man, Jonathan Hirsch, entered the coffee shop in October 2024, so he and his 5-year-old son could use the restroom. Hirsch ordered a coffee and sat at a table to play chess with his son.
At the time, Hirsch was wearing a hat with a Star of David on it—“a replica of a 1938 cap used by the Hebrew Orphans Asylum, a Jewish orphanage in New York City that sponsored baseball teams,” according to the lawsuit.
Harara proceeded to interrogate Hirsch on whether he is a “Zionist” and if he was wearing a “Jewish star,” according to the suit. He demanded that Hirsch and his son leave the coffee shop, accusing them of “causing a disruption” and “trespassing.” Harara threatened to call the police if Hirsch and his son did not leave. Hirsch told him to call the police, and he would wait for them to come.
Two police officers showed up at the coffee shop and asked that Hirsch speak with them outside, at which point Harara allegedly said to them, “I love Jewish people. Love them. I love them. I love them.” He then directed expletives at Israel, Zionists and Hirsch, per the lawsuit. He also described Hirsch using an expletive while talking to his son.
Further, the lawsuit alleges that on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, the coffee shop announced that it would be serving drinks titled “iced in tea fada”—an apparent reference to “intifada”—and “sweet Sinwar,” a purported reference to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed last October in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces. (JNS sought comment from the coffee shop.)
“It is illegal, intolerable and reprehensible for any American business open to the public to refuse to serve Jewish customers,” stated Harmeet Dhillon, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights.
“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 combating antisemitism and discrimination and protecting the civil rights of all Americans,” Dhillon stated. (Title VI of the 1964 act protects against bias in schools that receive public funding, while Title II focuses on discrimination in “public accommodations,” including stores.