'No coffee for Jews': At Jerusalem Coffee House, Jews aren't just turned away--they're openly harassed

From intifada-themed drinks to verbal assaults on five-year-olds -- the DOJ has finally said, "enough." As reported in the Daily Journal, in a lawsuit that should rattle every American with a conscience, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a civil rights complaint against a coffee house in Oakland, California, USA v. Fathi Abdulrahim Harara, Native Grounds LLC, dba Jerusalem Coffee House, 3:25-cv-04849-SK, accusing it of violating Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by denying service--and basic human dignity--to Jewish customers.

Espresso with a side of hate

The coffee shop, operated by Fathi Abdulrahim Harara under the facade of "Native Grounds, LLC," isn't just serving espresso and focaccia--it's serving up antisemitism by the cup. With drinks like "Iced In-Tea-Fada" and "Sweet Sinwar"--disgusting odes to Hamas terrorism and its Oct. 7 butcher-in-chief, Yahya Sinwar--the message is clear: This isn't a café, it's a shrine to anti-Semitism. At this rate, we shouldn't be surprised if "Heil Hitler Roast" (a bold, bitter German blend steeped in fascism, genocide, and moral depravity), or "Mocha Mein Kampf" (the brew for those who think the Final Solution goes best with foam) makes its debut next week.

This isn't satire. It's real. And now it's in federal court.

"Are You a Jew?"

That's how the coffee shop greets certain customers.

In two separate incidents documented in chilling detail, Jewish men were harassed, publicly humiliated and physically chased from the premises for the sin of wearing a Star of David or a Hebrew cap. One of them--Michael Radice--was literally yelled at and pursued into the street by staff and the owner after trying to buy a cookie. A cookie.

The other--Jonathan Hirsch--came in with his five-year-old son, just to use the bathroom and enjoy a coffee. Instead, they were verbally assaulted, accused of being Zionists, and forcibly removed with the boy being told his "dad's a bitch." When police arrived, the shop owner demanded that the father be handcuffed, face down, in front of his child. The police declined--and documented it as a hate incident.

It was never about Zionism

Make no mistake: when a man is asked, "Are you a Jew?" before being denied service, chased down the street and publicly humiliated, the issue is not Israel, not Gaza, not Hamas, and certainly not some mythical "occupation." The issue is Jew-hatred--raw, unadulterated, unfiltered, and unapologetic. That one chilling question strips away all the political posturing and pseudo-intellectual justifications. It reveals the naked truth: This isn't about policy--it's about people who hate Jews not for what they believe, not for what they say, not for what they do--but for who they are. No amount of café activism, radical chic, or "Palestinian solidarity" branding can cover up the ancient stench of antisemitism. This is not a protest. It's persecution. And it must be confronted for exactly what it is.

From Blood Libels to BDS: Antisemitism didn't die--it got a hashtag and human rights cloak

Antisemitism isn't an idea to debate--it's a disease. Like cancer, it mutates, adapts and reemerges in whatever form the cultural moment will tolerate. Today, that form is anti-Zionism--sanitized, hashtagged and wrapped in the glossy language of social justice. "We're not against Jews," they claim. "Just the policies of Israel." But let's stop pretending. When that "criticism" curdles into a grotesque reenactment of Auschwitz-era "selectzia"--interrogating café customers with "Are you a Jew?"--this isn't about geopolitics. It's about Jew hatred. Naked. Violent. Ancient. The BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement may cloak itself in the language of human rights, but too often it serves as a platform for an unholy alliance between radical Islamists and the progressive left, bound not by compassion for Palestinians, but by their common contempt for Jews. Antisemitism has always thrived on contradiction: Jews were hated for being too rich or too poor, too religious or too assimilated, too quiet or too loud. Now they're hated for daring to have a homeland. It's the same venom--only the bottle has changed.

So much for progressive "inclusion"

The coffee shop's defenders claim it's a "Palestinian business." As if that's a license for racial and religious discrimination. As if screaming obscenities at a five-year-old is somehow a legitimate form of political expression.

Let's be clear: This isn't about Middle East politics. This is also about basic civil rights in the United States of America. You don't get to exclude people from your public business because they're Jewish--any more than you could because they're Black, gay, or Muslim. Title II of the Civil Rights Act forbids it. And finally, the DOJ has stepped in.

The DOJ's message: No more pass for hate

The 10-page lawsuit, filed on June 9, seeks a federal court injunction to stop Harara and his "coffee house" from ever discriminating again. It demands policy changes, compliance with the law, and an end to this pattern of antisemitism masquerading as political resistance.

This isn't just a lawsuit. It's a mirror held up to a disturbing trend in America's progressive enclaves--where antisemitism has rebranded itself as anti-Zionism, and somehow thinks it's immune to consequence.

But not anymore.