North Oakland coffee house sued by U.S. Justice Department, amid discrimination claims

OAKLAND Federal prosecutors on Monday sued the owners of the Jerusalem Coffee House in North Oakland claiming they discriminated against Jewish customers and twice ordered people who wore hats emblazoned with the Star of David to leave The U S Justice Department s civil lawsuit against Fathi Abdulrahim Harara and Native Grounds LLC centers on multiple encounters that happened in summer and fall according to the complaint filed in federal court Prosecutors also disclosed the coffee shop sold a drink that appeared to reference the former leader of Hamas who helped planned the Oct attack on Israel In a news release announcing the lawsuit Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K Dhillon declared the filing was part of the justice department s work combatting antisemitism adding that it is illegal intolerable and reprehensible for any American business open to the residents to refuse to serve Jewish customers Attempts by this newspaper to reach the owners of the cafe which is closed on Mondays were not fruitful The coffee shop opened in with a host of drinks inspired by Palestinian custom including a coffee drink called Bebsi and a date-tahini latte At the time Harara touted it as a vibrant cultural hub for Palestinian and Islamic thought Federal prosecutors claim that in June a person sitting outside the coffee shop verbally berated a man who approached wearing a hat with the Star of David on it Two months later when the man returned without wearing the hat an employee allegedly ordered him to leave saying 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 according to the lawsuit In October Harara allegedly narrated a different man wearing a hat with the Star of David on it to leave after asking whether he was a Zionist the lawsuit noted Federal prosecutors also noted the names of the cafe s drinks in their lawsuit suggesting that one appeared to be a play on the term infitada while another appeared to reference Yahya Sinwar an architect of Hamas Oct attacks on Israel