By Chris Menahan – Information Liberation
You must bake the cake and you must serve the coffee.
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.
The lawsuit also alleges that, on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, the Jerusalem 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 on Israel. The lawsuit further alleges that the coffee house’s exterior side wall displays inverted red triangles, a symbol of violence against Jews that has been spraypainted on Jewish homes and synagogues in anti-Semitic attacks.
Under Title II, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division can obtain injunctive relief that changes policies and practices to remedy the discriminatory conduct. Title II does not authorize the division to obtain monetary damages for customers who are victims of discrimination.
One of the “victims” in this case is a Zionist agitator who went looking for trouble just like the LGBTQ agitators who went after Jack Phillips at Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado.
From the SF Standard, “Viral antisemitism victim has a history of loud public fights”:
Jonathan Hirsch has been widely embraced as a victim of antisemitism in the days since he appears to have been thrown out of a Palestinian-owned coffee shop in Oakland for wearing a Star of David baseball cap.
Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Ro Khanna, Rep. Barbara Lee, and Sup. Matt Dorsey are among those who have amplified Hirsch’s story, partially caught on video, of wandering with his young son into Jerusalem Coffee House — recently in the news for its Hamas-themed menu — only to have the police called when he refused to leave. Oakland police are working to determine if it meets the criteria of a hate incident.
But Hirsch, a 41-year-old advertising creative who has done contract work for Apple and Airbnb, is no stranger to conflict and controversy. (His LinkedIn page appears to have been deleted after publication.) In at least three other incidents dating back to last November, he has engaged in loud public arguments with strangers, with issues at dispute including Israel and Palestine, local politics and his own driving.
Some of these incidents were recorded by the other party, some by Hirsch himself. In several, they took place in front of one or more of his young children. At least one other encounter besides the café incident resulted in a call to police.
In an interview with The Standard, Hirsch acknowledged the pattern of altercations and expressed regret for some of his conduct. But he insisted that most of his behavior was justified and denied that he entered the Jerusalem Coffee House with the intent to provoke, or even with the knowledge that it was the same establishment he’d heard about at his synagogue earlier.
Growing up Jewish and learning about the persecution and murder of his ancestors has left him ready to defend himself when he perceives a threat, he said. “I was raised with the stories of the temperature rising,” he said. “I’m not the most flexible person.”
They go over multiple instances of his agitating in the full story.
Harara denies that he kicked Hirsch out simply because he was Jewish, YNetNews reports:
Days later, Hararah posted a video on social media confirming he had removed Hirsch from the cafe, defending his actions and expressing no regret. He claimed Hirsch came “to provoke,” wearing a Star of David while playing chess with his child in the cafe’s central seating area.
“They knew this was a political space,” Hararah said. “They came with a camera, with a kid, hoping to film me kicking them out and then spread it.” He added, “Jews are welcome here — as long as they’re anti-Zionist,” emphasizing that his cafe caters to supporters of Palestinian rights.
Hararah argued that Hirsch’s Star of David represented a political, not religious, identity: “This isn’t about religion — it’s about Zionism.” The Justice Department flatly rejected that claim, stating in the lawsuit that neither Hirsch nor Radis made any political statements, and that conflating a Star of David with support for “genocide” constitutes a clear violation of federal civil rights law. Officials said Hararah’s attempt to justify ejecting customers based on appearance is legally indefensible.
This is an exact repeat of the Masterpiece Cakeshop story but conservatives are now the ones leading the political persecution.