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In Oakland, California, a Jewish father, accompanied by his five-year-old son, wanted to have a cup of coffee at the Jerusalem Coffee House. He happened to have a Star of David affixed to his baseball cap. That was enough to infuriate the “Palestinian” owner of the café, who then ordered him off the premises. As an antisemitic act, this is most minor, but disturbing nonetheless, as one among many hundreds, or thousands, of similarly trivial acts of antisemitism — along with those that are not so trivial — that are committed every day in this country. More on the contretemps at the Jerusalem Café can be found here: “Father and son kicked out of Oakland cafe over Star of David hat,” by Emily Jacobs, Jerusalem Post, October 31, 2024:
A Jewish resident of Oakland, Calif., and his five-year-old son appeared on video being harassed and forcibly removed from a local cafe by its anti-Israel owner over the weekend for wearing a hat that brandished a Star of David, drawing condemnation from local Jewish leaders as well as Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Video of the incident, which began circulating online on Tuesday, shows Abdulrahim Harara, the owner of Jerusalem Coffee House in North Oakland, speaking to Jonathan Hirsch and his son over the former’s hat, which has a Jewish star emblazoned on the front. Harara said that Hirsch’s cap was “a violent hat, and you need to leave,” as Hirsch’s five-year-old son began crying.
Harara, whose family is from Gaza and who has used his establishment’s menu to honor terrorists such as the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, said that he wasn’t asking Hirsch to leave because his hat had a Jewish symbol, but then repeatedly asked if he was a Zionist. Another worker at the shop later accused Hirsch of inciting a problem by coming to the cafe as a Jew, something a female co-owner of the business pushed back on in the moment. Hirsch and his son came into the business looking for a bathroom to use, and played chess at one of the tables in the store while waiting for a coffee he ordered.
After Harara repeatedly ordered Hirsch and his son to “get out,” Hirsch responded that Harara was discriminating against a protected class, as part of a religious minority, by refusing him service for being Jewish. The female co-owner of the establishment told Hirsch that he was in a shop “owned and run by Palestinians,” something Hirsch noted did not mean they were entitled to deny him service for being visibly Jewish. The co-owner incorrectly stated that any establishment would have the right to deny service to customers for being gay, which Hirsch also pushed back on.
Harara eventually called the police despite saying that it was “against my ethos” to utilize law enforcement. When police arrived, Hirsch was eventually removed from the store for alleged trespassing, which the officer said she was enforcing to separate him from Harara. He said that once outside, Harara walked out and was shouting at his son that, “Your dad’s a b****.”…
Speaking to Jewish Insider on Wednesday about the encounter, Hirsch alleged that one of the employees made a lewd comment to his son as they were being removed from the premises, at which point he said the individual tried to push him out of the store. He also said that the officer, who was not identified in the video, allowed Harara to film her clipboard as she filled out his information, with his driver’s license listing his home address on top of the forms.
Now Harara, and whomever else he cares to share the information with, have Hirsch’s home address. It’s not difficult to imagine a supporter of Yahya Sinwar — as Harara apparently is, because on October 7, 2023, he posted a new menu that included a juice called “Sweet Sinwar”— choosing to harass Hirsch at his home.
Harara is breaking a federal law. “The Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that no business (public or private) serving the public can discriminate based on a customer’s national origin, sex, religion, color or race.” Will the feds charge Harara with violating that act? Could he be fined? What about the way in which his behavior scared Hirsch’s five-year-old son? And he not only kicked Hirsch and his son out of the café, but followed them out on the street to shout obscenities at them. Hirsch needs to find a lawyer — many will. be eager to take the case pro bono — to sue the pants off Harara for violating his civil rights by refusing to serve him, and for trying to intimidate both him and his son — who was left traumatized and tearful — even after they had left the café.
Imagine the national attention that would be given in the case of a Jewish café owner who refused service to a Muslim customer, forced him to leave the premises, and followed him out on the street to yell obscenities at him. It would make the national news. CAIR would not be alone in calling for the café owner to be punished and his cafe to be shut down. The same demand would come from Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and California’s former Attorney General, Kamala Harris.