DOJ Sues Coffee House in Oakland, CA for Refusing to Serve Jewish Customers
“It is illegal, intolerable, and reprehensible for any American business open to the public to refuse to serve Jewish customers”
It’s amazing that this kind of open antisemitism is happening in America in 2025.
This illegal conduct will not stand in America: it’s 2025 and time’s up for this level of bigotry in our country. Jerusalem Coffee House in Oakland will have to provide equal access to public accommodations to people of all faiths. https://t.co/E43niokXgs
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) June 9, 2025
From the DOJ website:
Justice Department Sues Coffee House for Refusal to Serve Jewish Customers
The Justice Department announced today that it filed a lawsuit against Fathi Abdulrahim Harara and Native Grounds LLC, the owners of the Jerusalem Coffee House in Oakland, California. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants discriminated against Jewish customers, in violation of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in places of public accommodation.
“It is illegal, intolerable, and reprehensible for any American business open to the public to refuse to serve Jewish customers,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “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 anti-Semitism and discrimination and protecting the civil rights of all Americans.”
The lawsuit, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that defendants discriminated against Jewish customers through policies and practices that denied them the full and equal enjoyment of the Jerusalem Coffee House’s services, accommodations, and privileges. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that on two separate occasions, Harara ordered Jewish customers — identified because they were wearing baseball caps with Stars of David on them — to leave the coffee house.
During one incident, an employee 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.” During another incident, Harara accused another Jewish customer who was with his five-year-old son of wearing a “Jewish star,” being a “Zionist,” and supporting “genocide.” Harara repeatedly demanded that the customer and his son leave and falsely accused them of “trespassing” to the Oakland police. Neither customer stated anything about their political views to Harara or any other employees while at the coffee house.
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Comments
of course this should be national news with hoards of people protesting in front of the blmplo business
but then to get that you’d have to be a 15yo wht kid singing the actual lyrics to a song that is only offensive when sung by wht people
So no “Coloreds or Jews Allowed” is acceptable? How about “Whites Only.” Sounds to me more along the lines of Sharia, than American culture.
wonder if this coffee house isnt funneling money to blmplo terror orgs??
“It is illegal, intolerable, and reprehensible for any American business open to the public to refuse to serve Jewish customers”
I thoroughly disagree with everything except “illegal.” I am of a fairly closed mind about private businesses and the right to associate. (And I think the idea of ‘public accommodations’ is a bogus infringement on individual rights.) Only the government should not be allowed to discriminate.
I go back and forth on this, On the one hand you can have complete denial of services everywhere which is intolerable. On the other hand you have the right to associate as stated by you, Frankly I think business give up some of that right when they open to the public for business. They don’t give up all of that right. They don’t have to be a cake for cause they disagree with, but they can’t refuse to serve a standard product because of someone’s perceived identity. You can’t have a functioning integrated society if you allow that and that is more important that any rigid ideal.
You can’t have a functioning integrated society if you allow that and that is more important that any rigid ideal.
I would prefer the local citizenry chase out the people who would be jerks by refusing to do any business at their establishment. These sorts of things should be handled by a community, not by law. Making it an issue of law only serves to make it 1) abusable and 2) less able to change hearts and minds. IMO.
That doesn’t work if a sufficient portion of the local citizenry also prefers not to associate with whoever the business has decided to exclude.
That’s a feature, not a bug.
yeah they should be
but that is no longer the case so lets hope lefty gets what they really want and deserve
no peace
I could support a change in civil rights law in the direction of freedom of association. But then you have to allow segregation for everyone from anyone they choose. And you’d never get Congress to go along with that.
Policing our personal preferences is not a delegated power of the federal government.
But, an important note: you came back with an argument in civil language. NOT with “You’re a bigot! You must secretly be a Jew-hater!”, etc. And that means I can respond and we can come to a place of agreement, possibly.
Unlike some commenters on the interwebs.
I take almost exactly the opposite view. I think it is intolerable and reprehensible, but ought to be legal. As you yourself say later, “these sorts of things should be handled by a community, not by law”. It is intolerable and reprehensible, so all decent people ought not to tolerate it, and to reprehend it; but the law should be value-neutral.
Fasten your oxygen helmets! GWB commented about what the law “is,” and Milhouse responded with how the law “should be.” Next stop — the Twilight Zone!
For the record, I almost agree with Milhouse. I differ on whether such things are “always” intolerable and reprehensible.
After 9/11, a number of gun shops refused to serve Muslims. After 2016, there were gun shops who refused to serve Biden voters (based on bumper stickers, paraphernalia, or personal knowledge).
Hillsdale College refuses to serve students who pay with government money. The Curves gym in town (all towns, actually) refuses to serve men, Many restaurants refuse to serve customers peacefully exercising their Second Amendment rights== hey, where’s the marching in the street over that?
There’s little difference between this and the centuries old peaceful practice of “shunning.” It is how societies have always enforced community standards WITHOUT politics.
The only questions that matter are:
1. Is the community standard “intolerable” because you don’t agree with it?
2. Does it violate an actual negative right, not some BS positive right like they make up in Canada or the UN?
3. Was it arrived at “democratically” (i.e., by the majority)?
4. Are you free to contravene it peacefully if you disagree (i.e. associate with people others will not)?
Remember, freedom always protects you to doing certain classes of things that somebody else isn’t going to like… by definition.
I actually disagree. A private business should be able to serve who they want. It is the publics business to make them famous and boycott them
yeah they should be
but that is no longer the case so lets hope lefty gets what they really want and deserve
no peace
I agree. Hope they get put out of business but in my view it’s not governments job to tell them who they must serve no more than it is to tell me who I rent an apartment or house to.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gblock_so-proud-of-my-bro-abdulrahim-harara-for-activity-7182520741689532416-gAs7
TAKE A LOOK
lol the chess set, and they chase away the people who can play much better than they do. And the chutzpah calling it “Jerusalem”. Why didn’t they call it the “Palestinian Coffee House” if that’s what they care about? Because they’re liars.
To rub Jerusalem in our faces.
But they usually call it Al Quds.
Feel free to drop a few comments there for the Jew-haters applauding the coffee shop.
The last 2 or 3 times I’ve tried to use this link, it hourglasses (dating myself) endlessly. I wonder if LinkedIn In took it down.
All this in the inclusive, loving, no hate Bay Area. Not in some right wing stronghold like someplace on the south.
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