Shahida Flag Flying Oakland Cafe Hit with Lawsuits Alleging Anti-Jewish Bias
Jerusalem Coffee House is a good fit for Oakland’s generic hate whitie radicalism.
Legal troubles are multiplying for Oakland’s Jerusalem Coffee House. On Monday, the U.S. Justice Department filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing the owner Abdulrahim Harara and Native Grounds LLC of violating Title II of the Civil Rights Act. Title II prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, and national origin and the lawsuit seeks to force compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws.
The lawsuit stems from two instances of alleged bias, one which went viral in October 2024. In that incident, Harara kicked out Johnathan Hirsch and his five-year-old son for wearing a violent hat with the Star of David. In the video recorded by Hirsch, Harara is seen saying “This is a violent hat & you need to leave.” Jewish Press reports:
Hirsch was wearing a blue baseball cap with a white Jewish Star on the front, a recreation of a 1938 cap linked to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, a Jewish charitable organization in New York that hosted Negro League baseball games.
The viral video attracted attention to Harara and his project. It turned out, that the posh Rockridge neighborhood café served a terror-themed menu. If Islamists abroad pass around sweets on occasions of successful soft target hits like 9/11, for mere $10 the joint offered drinks called Sweet Sinwar, evidently named after the now eliminated mastermind of Simchat Torah massacre, and $8 Iced In-TEA-fada after the early 2000’s war in which Israel’s civilian population was targeted on buses and in pizzerias. The paper menu and the outer wall of the eatery are decorated with red triangles, the symbol used by online Antizionists to signify killings.
As it was happening, I dove into the outfit’s social media to discover:
Designed as a place to advance fringe ideas, the Jerusalem Coffee House’s Yelp reviews include one woman’s complaints of being ejected for bringing up Israeli cuisine and another one calling on patrons to “**** zios”—or kill Jews. Cultural programming includes events like the screening of presidential debate titled White on White Violence: Collapse of The Great Settler State, advertised with a flyer showing Donald Trump with swastikas in place of eyes and Joe Biden with stars of David.
The venue’s owner Abdulrahim “Raheem” Harara, a San Francisco-raised Gazan, built his nest egg working in the local tech sector. In a photo posted by a patron on Yelp, Harara is seen displaying the one-finger ISIS salute.
The owner explains that the idea behind the shop is to share with the locals what it means to be a Palestinian. He puts up a display of Palestinianism — a concocted narrative designed to negate the Jewish claim to the Holy Land.
Pictures from the cafe show a Palestinian flag bearing Arabic lettering I asked Grok to translate it and it came up with the Shahida, or the Islamic statement of faith typically written on Hamas flag. On their Instagram account, the word Israel is written in scare quotes and blood libels fly. Harara promoted a fundraiser for Palestinian Children’s Relief, a charity compromised by terror links, including those to Hamas.
There is no sense of a broad significance of Jerusalem Coffee House project — no cultural singularity. Aside from hating Israel, Palestinian guests speakers ingest nourishment — that’s it. The cafe, for instance, advertised for a $50 cooking workshop with a lady who rants about “Israeli occupation in its relentless pursuit of colonial death”. But what’s a colonial death?
Jerusalem Coffee House is a good fit for Oakland’s generic hate whitie radicalism. One of its Instagram posts advertises for people’s iftar with iftar being a Ramadan dinner and people’s a common Marxoid adjective for things that lefties do. Under pictures of two black women with covered heads, the post promised:
Our limited collab merch will be for sale — and all proceeds go to programs for decolonization in Oakland as well as to support people in Gaza — Free the land!
In one of the pictures the two women are shown holding an oversized T-shirt reading “The [new] Afrikan [sic] struggle and the Palestinian struggle are for liberation of humanity”. Presumably, that’s the limited addition merchandise they were selling at the function.
The coffee shop’s interior features a map of Africa with a fist superimposed against it. I’m not sure who are the blacks in Oakland that are being decolonized considering that the black community here did not exist in significant numbers prior to the Second World War. It’s another word local radicals mindlessly toss around, together with genocide, apartheid and a handful of others — typically signifying general disapproval, sometimes used against Israel, sometimes against Western civilization and always against success and excellence.
The violent hat incident put the establishment in the spotlight, but it turned out that another Jew is alleging bias there. In March 2025, Michael Radice brought up a lawsuit with support of the ADL. Turns out, on July 10 last year Radice walked into the Jerusalem Coffee Shop wearing a necklace with the Star of David and the words Am Yisrael Chi. An employee asked him if he’s a Jew and a Zionist and proceeded to make accusations against him relating to the war in Gaza — probably something similar to their social media vitriol.
Concerned for his physical safety, Radice left but as he was exiting the store he saw Harara talk to the employee. Believing that the latter was there to diffuse the situation, Radice returned to thank him a few weeks later. He was recognized and, according to the complaint, three men, including Harara, chased him out of the café. In addition to the DOJ lawsuit, both Hirsch and Radice is now seeking compensatory damages.
Harara lawyered up and denies any wrongdoing, claiming to be misunderstood. He, for instance, previously asserted that his Sweet Sinwar drink is simply given a common Palestinian name. The San Francisco Standard investigated the claim and found that Sinwar is not among the 1,000 most common Palestinian surnames. The coffee shop owner also claims that he denied service to Hirsch and his five-year-old because they were disruptive and accused the Trump Administration of playing politics.
Assistant U.S. attorney general Harmeet Dhillon called the coffee house unamerican. She added that as a former Bay Area resident she is ashamed of this kind of discrimination taking place here and disappointed in the local government’s inaction.
The Oakland Jewish community dates back to the city’s incorporation in the 19th century. It has been large and prominent. Among its most high profile members are the writer Gertrude Stein who gave the city its motto there is no there there and the rabbi, pacifist and an advocate for Arab-Jewish reconciliation Judah Magnes.
Since the High Holidays attack on Israel in October 2023 attack, Oakland has been hit by antisemitic hate crimes. For instance, in December 2023 an unknown individual upturned the Chabad menorah and threw it into nearby Lake Merritt. Corrupt and incompetent Oakland leadership has no interest in addressing antisemitic crimes — and wouldn’t know how anyway. In the aftermath of BLM, the police department is severely understaffed. No wonder that hate finds a home here.
The Palestinian/Hamas flag combo is new to America, but bigots serving overpriced syrupy drinks is a very Oakland kind of thing. I am curious, however — does Mr. Harara know who destroyed that Chabad menorah back in 2023?
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Comments
Make the latte, bigot
Selling intersectional coffee.
“We are fair trade (except for our hostages)”
I was reading another article on this and was surprised to learn that under the Civil Rights Act, DoJ can only seek injunctive relief. The only civil rights statute that includes potential monetary fines is the ADA…and those fines can be significant, even for the 1st offense ($90K 1st offense, $180K each subsequent offense). But, if the Klan opened up a coffee shop with a big sign that said, ‘No Blacks Allowed,’ as in this case, the DoJ would be limited to only seeking injunctive relief. After watching Biden’s DoJ abuse the law to punish and silence political opponents for 4-years, this is probably a good thing.
The Left’s tactics should be used against them. Alinsky’s rules for radicals: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
Like the Masterworks Cake Shop, it’s from a mistake in the Civil Rights Law. It ought to have preserved freedom of association except in monopoly (de jure or de facto) markets. This isn’t a monopoly market, nor is masterworks cake shop, so civil rights law shouldn’t apply but it does.
That drives defense into absurd claims that still survive, like freedom of religion, to justify what is an association problem.
So, outrage level is zero here and there both.
You’re an idiot making idiotic and ignorant comments, as per usual.
A business holding itself out for public patronage is considered a “public accommodation” under federal civil rights law and thus discrimination by the staff or proprietor against customers of a certain ethnic/religious affiliation is a violation of those laws.
This has nothing to do with freedom of association, and, you’re an idiot for contending that it does.
Yes, that is what the law SAYS. But, should a privately owned business on private property magically be called “public accommodation”? My view is that private is private. Period. No badge-and-gun entity should be dictating with whom I do business or with whom I choose to associate.
Looks like we have a significant “circuit split” here within LI. I’m with Hardin on this one.
“Place of public accommodation” is an entirely synthetic weasel phrase, same as “assault weapon.” It allows a government of ean (not of laws) to slide elements in and out of that classification at will, with no real logic or consistency, and in neither case is conformant with constitutional delegations.
ean = men
I think you need to review the common law concerning innkeepers.
“The extent of what an innkeeper or restaurant owner may reasonably consider in denying a customer access to her establishment is limited by civil rights statutes: Owners are prohibited from refusing to accommodate or entertain persons on account of their race, color, religion, or national origin.”
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/hotels_and_restaurants_law
Thanks. I was not aware of this: “A major difference is that restaurateurs have no duty to receive all persons who are in a presentable condition and are able to pay for services while hotelers must provide shelter.” Apparently an oversight in my torts class.
It’s nothing like Masterworks. Masterworks was asked to make a specific type of cake that they would have refused to anyone who might have asked for such a cake. They weren’t discriminating against the buyers, they were refusing to make a certain type of product, a type they sold to no one.
In this instance, persons of a certain persuasion are being refused service for products that are sold to other patrons. This is completely unlike the Masterworks situation.
I agree with this for the most part. Sixty years ago, the congress and the courts (always the courts) started an ongoing constitutional convention to re-write our basic liberties – such as private property, and freedom of association, etc. – without including We the people.
Legislation and courts started out with you can’t discriminate against black folks to now you must let johnny’s lil willy in your daughter’s lockerroom, and wilding thugs invade your cruise ships, and mideast monsters terrorize your universities, all because freedom of association was eradicted by courts and law.
Thinking about Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission — this is gonna be an interesting one to watch.
How is it even close? The baker didn’t abuse & eject the customers for being gay. He simply refused to design & custom make a cake with a theme that was contrary to his religious beliefs. He told them he’d be happy to sell them anything in the store.
See any difference between that and ‘You’re a Jew. We don’t want you here’?
Sorry, redundant 🙃
The last words in the video are quite prophetic “Call the cops, your about to get an education”
Boy, is that clown about to get educated.
We already knew that supporting terrorists is what it means to be a “Palestinian”.
I know the area as I once lived not to far from that coffee shop on Telegraph Ave. Sears once had a store nearby on Telegraph where I used to buy tools. I remember asking a clerk in the hardware department where they kept the wrenches. Well the word “wrench” was not in her vocabulary, and she was not a foreigner. Such is the functioning level of many people in the Bay Area.
The whole Oakland area was not safe for white people, and I learned to stay away from downtown. Today the area is not safe for Jews, especially the Berkeley campus. Indeed the whole of Berkeley. So this coffee shop story does not surprise me.
I might have to claim my birthright citizenship in Israel if America continues along the antisemitic path.
I did that nearly 6 years ago. We’re keeping the lights on for years & the door is open. A few things I wish people had told me before I came. While you’re still in the US;
1. Establish Florida residency. Make your Aliyah from there.
2. Get Master Card or Visa (few places here take Amex) from several different banks, preferably with no foreign transaction fee. Some cards claim to have no foreign transaction fee but take a spread between the official exchange rate and the rate they charge you, so be careful. Why several banks: many banks will cancel your account if they find out you no longer reside in the U.S.
3. For the same reason, it’s a good idea to have accounts at more than 1 U.S. bank.
he is making it clear why the plo isnt acceptable to any lands they enter
and people in america act like there are no such things as
no-go zones
They do?
of course
to protect their racism lefty will tell you that its them poc who cant go into areas but we know in fact that while that might be true in some cases ITS MORE TRUE FOR WHITES
WHITES GOING into big blue cities is a huge danger especially if you are not pushing the lefty agenda
some cant even go on their own college campuses to study b/c they are j ewish
but lefty ewill tell you that is bs…that they arent against j ews( complete lie!!) but against “zionists”
>that they arent against j ews( complete lie!!) but against “zionists”<
Exactly. Probably just a coincidence that they tend to take it out on the nearest person who’s visibly Jewish or the nearest Jewish home, institution or business.
When they beat up Hasidim in Brooklyn or people on campus wearing kippot, are we supposed to believe they check first to see whether their target voted in the World Zionist Organization elections?
Here’s an idea: STOP importing people who want to fly a terrorist flag to promote terrorist ideas on a terrorist menu in order to terrorize a particular people.
Here’s another idea: Deport. Them. All.
Here’s an idea: repeal Hart-Celler. Time was that with rare exception we only allowed those with western / European values and customs. Also, those with either a) a sponsor or, b) demonstrable skills or knowledge sufficient to earn their own way and contribute to our nation, not tear it down from within.
“STOP importing people who want to fly a terrorist flag”
To do that, we’d first have to learn how to stop electing sock puppets like Joe Biden.
“posh Rockridge neighborhood…”
Don’t they have a black sheriff named Bart?
Hey, where the white women at?!
Rockridge properties go for 2-3M, I think. Lots of Jewish libs, too.
“Where da white women at?”
They’re at the rally protesting against ICE for arresting murderers and rapists.
You can recognize them by their sagging busts, belly fat, piercings, hair color not known to Mother Nature, and whining, fog-horn-like voices.
Like Harmonica MacGuyver, who can turn a bucket of chicken into an air-raid siren.
So, to boil things down to a level that even I can understand (if I have this right)
It is perfectly legal to operate this cafe in the manner in which it currently exists with everything exactly as it is. The First Amendment applies here and that’s the of it.
However, if someone whom the operators of the cafe hates on account of their race, color, religion, or national origin, he cannot refuse to serve them citing any of those reasons.
The operators could however refuse service for any other reasons they want (“No shoes, no shirt, no service” et al).
The other day I was looking for a place to eat. I found what looked like a good place for a breakfast, but there was a sign on the door that said “Shoes must be worn”.
My shoes were virtually new, so, I went to another restaurant.
It’s not Father’s Day yet.
???
The “no shoes, no shirt, no service” was originally meant to assure a more sanitary environment. Not sure how that’s supposed to work, but that’s how it was explained back in the 1960s.
Also, supermarkets used to be “No dogs.” Then it was “Service dogs only.” Now people just bring dogs into the market.
Let’s all get one thing straight. There are no Palestinians. That is the start of the false narrative, They are arabs. Their adoption of the term Palestinian was by Yassar Arafat, he who was born in Egypt, at the suggestion of the KGB as Arafat was a russian asset. Prior to that they identified as arabs. They are not indigenous to the area. Israel is not their ancestral home. Most of their ancestors migrated there in the 19th century,
I’m so tired of their BS.
There are no liberals either.
Not many any more. Unfortunately,
The “Palestinians” aren’t refugees either.
Most Palestinians in Gaza today are descendants of those who fled what became Israel. Technically, descendants of refugees aren’t refugees, but the UN has given them a special status, the only descendants of actual refugees granted this status.
That status, “refugee,” has always been a lie for two reasons. First, many (if not most) Palestinians left their lands voluntarily, at the behest of invading Arab armies, that wanted “free fire” zones where they could operate without fear of harming Arabs. Those who fled were promised the land of the obliterated Jews. Unfortunately for them, the Jews weren’t obliterated, and the Jews wisely decided to not allow Arabs who were hoping for their (the Jews’) extermination to return to what had become Israel.
Second, because the Palestinians believe that Gaza is part of their homeland, they can’t be “refugees.” Refugees are people driven from their homelands. People driven from their homes who remain in their homelands, are “displaced people.” (But, of course, the Palestinians aren’t displaced people either, for reason #1 above.)
Many of the ancestors of today’s “Palestinian refugees” moved there in the 20’s, 30’s & 40’s from other parts of the former Ottoman Empire, to take advantage of economic opportunities created by the Zionists- particularly after Perfidious Albion froze Jewish immigration in 1939 after restricting it for over a decade.
ME Education 101 – one didn’t get any – Gazan Arabs, period. Problem is for these Gazan Arabs, no other Arab nation wants them. Why? They’re too dangerous, etc.
They sure screwed up Beirut
The injunction is being sought in Federal court, as I understand it. Therefore, there is a chance of it it being pursued properly [a lot of Federal attorneys are Leftist holdovers]. If it was happening in a California state court, anti-Semites are a protected class and it would almost surely be dismissed immediately.
Subotai Bahadur
The word “Shahida” means “female martyr” in Arabic.
The “shahada” is the Muslim declaration of faith.
If the alleged victim thought the owner was going to diffuse the situation he ought to have fled. To diffuse something means to spread it, possibly diluting it but also possibly propagating it.
If the alleged victim thought the owner was going to defuse the situation, staying would have been appropriate. Defusing means to render a potentially explosive situation harmless.