Anti-Israel coffee shop owner who named drink “Sweet Sinwar” violated court orders by refusing to hand over evidence after he was accused by Jewish customers of discrimination, judge rules.By David Rosenberg, World Israel NewsA federal judge has ordered the Arab-American owner of a San Francisco Bay Area coffee shop accused of discriminating against Jewish customers to pay $59,000 for repeatedly violating court orders, as the business faces three lawsuits over allegations of antisemitism.The October 29 ruling by US Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson found that Fathi Abdulrahim Harara, owner of Jerusalem Coffee House in Oakland, California, had violated at least six court orders requiring him to turn over evidence in a discrimination lawsuit brought by Jewish customer Michael Radice.The judge determined that Harara had repeatedly failed to comply with the discovery process, producing some documents late, submitting incomplete records and failing to provide requested emails.Harara’s failure to produce emails had “no good excuse,” Hixson wrote, adding that the owner must face financial consequences for his repeated violations.“He needs to pay for what he did,” the judge wrote.Radice’s attorneys had requested $166,500 in sanctions, but Hixson reduced the amount to $59,000, criticizing the plaintiff’s legal team for pursuing the litigation with “excessive ferocity.”The judge ordered Harara to pay Radice within 30 days but rejected requests for more severe sanctions that could have effectively decided the case without a trial.The ruling does not determine whether Harara or his employees unlawfully discriminated against Jewish customers.The legal battle stems from several confrontations at Jerusalem Coffee House in 2024 involving Jewish patrons wearing clothing bearing Stars of David.According to Radice’s lawsuit, he entered the establishment wearing a baseball cap displaying a Star of David and the Hebrew slogan “Am Yisrael Chai,” meaning “The people of Israel live.”During an August 2024 visit, an employee allegedly recognized Radice from a previous confrontation and ordered him to leave.Radice claims Harara and another employee joined in, following him outside while shouting insults identifying him as a Jew and Zionist.The US Justice Department, which filed its own lawsuit against the establishment in June 2025, cited the incident as evidence of alleged religious discrimination.The department also described a separate confrontation involving Jewish customer Jonathan Hirsch, who entered the coffee shop with his five-year-old son in October 2024.Video footage of that encounter showed Harara objecting to Hirsch’s Star of David cap, calling it “a violent hat.”“Are you a Zionist? Then get out!” Harara told Hirsch.The Justice Department accused the business of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, religion and other protected characteristics in places of public accommodation.Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon condemned the alleged conduct when the federal lawsuit was announced.“It is illegal, intolerable, and reprehensible for any American business open to the public to refuse to serve Jewish customers,” Dhillon said.The cafe had previously attracted controversy for unveiling beverages called “Sweet Sinwar” and “Iced In Tea Fada” on October 7, 2024, the first anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel.The first drink appeared to reference Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who orchestrated the October 7 massacre, while the second was a play on the word “intifada.”The coffee shop’s exterior also displayed inverted red triangles, a symbol used by Hamas in propaganda videos to identify Israeli targets.In his October ruling, Hixson cited social media posts, text messages and other material already obtained by the plaintiffs as potentially significant evidence. He concluded that enough evidence remained available for the lawsuits to proceed fairly despite Harara’s failure to provide the requested emails.Jerusalem Coffee House suspended operations in August 2026, citing the mounting legal costs and the need to prepare its defense against lawsuits brought by Radice, Hirsch and the Justice Department.The post Owner of Oakland cafe that named drink after Oct 7 architect ordered to pay $59,000 appeared first on World Israel News.