OAKLAND — Fathi Abdulrahim Harara had little to say Wednesday about alleged confrontations with Jewish customers that have placed his Telegraph Avenue café in the crosshairs of federal prosecutors.
Instead, Harara focused his first public remarks about a Department of Justice lawsuit against him on Israel’s siege of Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and, in the past month, led dozens to die of starvation.
“My words feel small in the rubble of lives lost,” Harara said, referencing the endless stream of footage from Gaza that has broadcast globally the “charred remains of my people.”
“Death has crept into every crevice of life in Gaza,” he added. “And yet, despite the violence we have endured and continue to face, my heart remains faithfully tethered to (justice).”
Harara owns Jerusalem Coffee House, a small Palestinian-inspired café in the city’s Temescal district where the business owner is accused by federal prosecutors of verbally berating multiple customers last year because they wore hats displaying the Star of David, a symbol of Jewish faith.
Video of the last of these confrontations — between Harara and a man who had previously filmed other, similar run-ins — went viral online, reportedly inviting condemnation of Harara’s actions by a number of California’s elected leaders, including Rep. Adam Schiff.
In addition to the Department of Justice, the business has also separately been sued by the Anti-Defamation League and the Brandeis Center over Harari’s alleged attempts to remove customers of a protected class from his business.
Among those flanking the café owner at Wednesday’s news conference were his legal representation, including longtime civil-rights attorney Walter Riley, as well as members of the local Palestinian community.
Notably, the business owner also found support from local Jewish critics of Israel, such as the activist group Jewish Voice for Peace and Rabbi Cat Zavis of the Beyt Tikkun synagogue in Berkeley, a progressive congregation that is representative of growing anti-Zionist sentiment in the East Bay.
“Standing in solidarity with Palestine,” Zavis said Wednesday, “is the most Jewish thing we could do.”
Harare, though, has also found himself on the defensive after being accused of blatant anti-Semitism against Jewish customers, and is now facing a federal lawsuit.
Prosecutors say a man wearing such a hat had been sitting outside the coffee shop in June 2024 when Harara came outside to verbally berate him. Two months later, the same man returned — this time without a hat — but Harari recognized him.
“You’re the guy with the hat,” Harari allegedly told the man, according to the federal lawsuit. “You’re the Jew. You’re the Zionist. We don’t want you in our coffee shop. Get out.”
A third incident, in October 2024, involved Harara telling a man seated with his son at Jerusalem Coffee Shop to leave because the man was wearing a “violent hat,” per a viral video of the encounter.
The man, Oakland resident Jonathan Hirsch, fired back that Harara could not ask him to leave “because of my religion,” but the business owner denied that was the reason.
“Are you a Zionist?” the video depicts Harari demanding to know. Hirsch declines to answer, but Harara presses on: “Then get out!”
Hirsch had been involved in several earlier public confrontations recorded on video, including multiple fiery arguments about politics, the San Francisco Standard reported.
But Hirsch, who spoke at length to local news media in the aftermath of the Jerusalem Coffee House incident, told the Standard that he had not visited the café intending to produce another viral run-in.
Those rallying behind Harara, meanwhile, described the coffee shop as a welcoming environment, the kind of Oakland storefront that opposes oppression in any form.
The business is a next-door tenant of East Bay Community Space, a gathering spot for activists where Wednesday’s news conference was held.
“What took place was a clear act of provocation,” said Monadel Herzallah, a close friend of Harara’s, “designed to bait business people into a reaction for the sake of whitewashing extremist, racist policies. This was not about justice; it was a trap.”
Another speaker took the Star of David controversy head on, saying it came to real prominence only when it was chosen as the central symbol of Israel’s national flag by the First Zionist Congress in the late 1980s.
“As a Jew, when I see someone with a prominent Star of David, especially if it is accompanied by the colors blue and white, it strikes fear even in me,” said AJ Pluss, a local chapter member of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.
Oakland has found itself under intense scrutiny by pro-Israel organizations and elected leaders in nearly two years since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas killed 1,200 people and took over 200 hostage.
The city was among the first in the Bay Area to call for a ceasefire to Israel’s subsequent assault of Gaza, which the local health ministry there estimates has killed over 60,000 people.
Israel’s blockade of food, medicine and supplies to the region has led more than 60 people to die of starvation, the Associated Press reported, despite denials by the country’s leaders.
The increasingly desperate situation abroad took center stage Wednesday, leaving Harari’s legal situation with the Department of Justice almost a side note to his supporters’ broader call for Palestinian civil rights.
“I hope that we will expose these cases for what they are,” said Glenn Katon, another attorney reprsenting Harari, “which is, a hypocritical attack on a really beautiful and loving part of our community.”
Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at shomik@bayareanewsgroup.com.