An Oakland coffee shop at the center of three lawsuits alleging discrimination against Jewish customers was vandalized overnight between Sunday and Monday, leaving a window near the cafe’s entrance shattered.
Jerusalem Coffee House, located in North Oakland, was the site of two incidents in 2024 in which customers said they were kicked out because they identified as Jewish.
In a press release this week, Jerusalem Coffee House spokesperson Emily Loftis said that cafe owner Abdulrahim Harara suspects the vandalism was an “attempt to intimidate him and his community that openly condemn the genocide of the Palestinian people.” Harara is a defendant in the three lawsuits.
The coffee shop’s Instagram account posted an image of the shattered window and included much stronger language than did the press release, as well as antisemitic tropes referencing “rats” and “filth.” The post included a selfie of Harara near the shattered window.
“Zionists can break every window, vandalize our business as many times as they like. But they’ll never have the courage to confront us head on,” the post said in part.
Neither the press release nor the post mentioned any accompanying graffiti, which could point to a motive.
The Oakland Police Department said it is investigating the incident and has not identified a suspect. In an email statement to J., OPD said it had contacted the business and learned that one or more people had “used an object to vandalize the victim’s property before fleeing the area” sometime between 11 p.m. Sunday and 1:30 a.m. Monday
In separate lawsuits, the Anti-Defamation League and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law are representing clients who said they were discriminated against by cafe employees for being Jewish. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a related complaint against the cafe in June.
Michael Radice, who lives in Los Angeles and regularly comes to Oakland for work, was questioned by a coffee house employee in July 2024 when he approached the cafe wearing a cap with a Star of David on it, according to one lawsuit.
An employee accused Radice of being “complicit in Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip” and “guilty of ‘killing children,’” the lawsuit said. Radice returned the next month without the cap, but the employee from the previous encounter recognized him and 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,” according to the suit.
In late October 2024, Oakland resident Jonathan Hirsch visited the coffee shop with his young son while wearing a similar cap displaying a Star of David. In a video that went viral on social media, Harara is seen confronting Hirsch over the hat.
“Are you a Zionist?” Harara says in the video. “This is a violent hat and you need to leave.” The police were called, and Hirsch eventually left.
Loftis referred to the lawsuits as “legal attacks” and labeled the ADL and Brandeis Center as “Zionist hate groups.”
A group called “Defend JCH” launched a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe in June to help cover the cafe’s legal fees, expand its operations and support its “community initiatives.” As of publication, the campaign had received 500 donations totaling over $38,000, with at least 16 new donations in the past two days.
Jerusalem Coffee House, which advertises itself as “rooted in revolution,” often hosts political events. In the past it has also hosted a writing workshop, movie night and “Playdate 4 Palestine Baby Storytime.”
The coffee shop drew widespread attention on Oct. 7, 2024, after posting a new menu on social media that included a juice blend called “Sweet Sinwar” and another drink called “Iced in Tea Fada.” The menu was decorated with inverted red triangles, a symbol used by Hamas to identify targets of violence.
A representative of the cafe told the SF Standard at the time that the drink was not named after Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader widely considered the architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel. The Israel Defense Forces killed Sinwar in Gaza on Oct. 16, 2024.
Attorneys representing Jerusalem Coffee House attempted to quash the DOJ lawsuit in August, arguing that the alleged incidents did not demonstrate a pattern of antisemitic discrimination. A federal judge ruled against the cafe a month later, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.The police department is asking anyone with information to contact its criminal investigation division at 510-238-372 and to send any photos or videos that could assist with the investigation to [email protected].