The civil complaint, filed in a federal court in Northern California, alleges Jerusalem Coffee House refused service to two Jewish customers because they are “Zionists.”
If the allegation is true, the business could be found guilty of violating the U.S. Civil Rights Act.
Jerusalem Coffee House, located in Oakland, is owned by a Palestinian man named Fathi Abdulrahim Harara.
Aaron Bandler, a national correspondent for Jewish News Syndicate, tells AFN the first alleged incident involved a Jewish customer who was wearing a baseball cap with the Star of David. The symbol triggered an employee who began yelling at the Jewish man and told him to leave.
“And then a couple months later, when this guy came back into the coffee shop, he wanted to buy a cookie as a sign of good will,” Bandler explains. “And the coffee shop tossed him out, because he's a ‘Zionist.’”
Another alleged incident involved a second Jewish man, also with a Star of David on his hat, who was playing chess in the shop with his sons. That man was accused of trespassing and told to leave, Bandler says.
The coffee shop is also accused of creating drinks to celebrate the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
In a related Newsweek article, an attorney for the coffee shop said the lawsuit is trying to "silence voices for Palestinian human rights" with false allegations of antisemitism.
The attorney, Glenn Katon, also said the Jewish customer has a history of "inciting conflict" at the coffee shop.
In comments to Fox News about the civil complaint, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the DOJ will not tolerate a business that mocks and harasses a Jewish person and forces them to leave.
“We're not going to put up with that Under Title 2, they cannot do that in our country,” she told Fox.
