An Oakland, Calif., coffee shop that drew national scrutiny for promoting Hamas and forcibly removing Jewish patrons announced it has closed amid three separate antisemitism lawsuits.

Jerusalem Coffee House shuttered last week, citing the legal challenges brought by the Justice Department, Anti-Defamation League and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law over its alleged harassment of two Jewish customers.

“These lawsuits represent the ongoing efforts of zionist organizations and the federal government to use the courts as a tool to repress free speech and public political commitments to Palestine,” a Substack post from the cafe said. “We’ve faced harassment, property damage, and hate messages since. Despite it all, we’ve continued building the work that matters most to us.”

In October 2024, video circulated of Jonathan Hirsch, a Jewish man wearing a hat with a Star of David, and his five-year-old son being harassed and forcibly removed from the cafe by its owner, Abdulrahim Harara. 

Harara said that Hirsch’s cap was “a violent hat, and you need to leave,” as Hirsch’s son began crying. 

Harara, whose family is from Gaza and who has used his establishment’s menu to honor 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 questioned whether he was a Zionist.

Another worker at the shop later accused Hirsch of causing 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 said they came into the store looking for a bathroom to use, but also ordered coffee and played chess at one of the tables.  

After Harara repeatedly demanded that Hirsch and his son “get out,” Hirsch accused him of religious discrimination for refusing them service because they are 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 opposed. 

Harara eventually called the police, despite asserting that it was “against my ethos” to utilize law enforcement. Police removed Hirsch from the cafe for alleged trespassing, which the officer said she was enforcing to separate him from Harara. 

Hirsch told Jewish Insider at the time that once outside, Harara followed him out and shouted at his son, “Your dad’s a b****.”

Weeks prior to the incident, the cafe had drawn criticism for announcing a new menu featuring a juice called “Sweet Sinwar,” which critics said was a tribute to the Hamas leader. The updated offerings also included “Iced in Tea Fada,” a nod to the violent Palestinian uprisings against Israel known as intifadas. Harara told the San Francisco Standard at the time that the menu launch was not tied to the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, but to the business’ one year anniversary.