Accusations of antisemitic graffiti at Farley’s East coffee shop in Oakland, California as Jewish woman seeks to video scrawlings as social media demands boycott and firings.
An Oakland, California coffee shop has been forced to publicly apologise following an episode which saw a Jewish customer accuse the outlet of antisemitism after workers at the store sought to block her from what the customer deemed was antisemitic graffiti scrawled in the bathroom.
Notice of the episode was shared on social media, via @StopAntisemites which posted video on X, showing the incident unfold at Farley’s East coffee house in Oakland.
‘Oakland, CA—employees at Farley’s East coffee house (33 Grand Ave.) are filmed denying a Jewish woman’s access to a bathroom after she complained is was filled with antisemitic graffiti,’ the caption of the post read.
Oakland coffee shop fires workers over anti-semitic bathroom graffiti
Jews aren’t allowed in the restrooms in a coffee shop and restaurant in Oakland, CA Farley’s East coffee house (33 Grand Ave.)
America has been giving more and more 1933 vibes lately.
What is going on in America?
— Ella Travels (Ella Kenan) (@EllaTravelsLove) December 7, 2023
As the video begins, the woman filming is heard complaining that she is not being allowed entry into the bathroom, with employees attempting to explain why they are stopping her. One employee is heard saying ‘I know Israel loves taking private property and saying it’s their own, but we gotta head [out].’
Since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants, tensions over the conflict have continued to escalate in the U.S. and other parts of the globe. Many protests with supporters on both sides of the war have occurred in the U.S, with many decrying the actions of Israel state, which the U.N has decried as that of an apartheid state and carrying out acts of genocide.
In the video, the woman and the employees continue to argue over entry to the bathroom as she tells them that since she is a patron she should be allowed, while the employees are heard repeatedly denying her access and asking her to leave.
Towards the end of the clip, the employees tell the woman she is allowed into the bathroom and as she enters, she films graffiti inside saying ‘Zionism = fascism’ and ‘your neutrality….is enabling genocide.’
The video was posted to social media by other accounts, but the StopAntisemites account removed its post and said, ‘At the request of the individual victim, we have now removed the video of the incident.’
Israel-Hamas conflict continues to ignite polarized fissures
As the woman continues to film the bathroom, one of the employees is heard saying ‘history didn’t start in 1948, lady,’ as another employee says, ‘Free Palestine.’ While walking out of the bathroom, another employee says ‘Free Palestine, it’s always…great, we love it.’
In a statement posted on social media, Farley’s East coffee house responded to the incident saying, ‘Dear Valued Community, in response to the recent incident at our family-owned-cafe, we want to offer an acknowledgment and a sincere apology. As context, hate speech graffiti was written in our bathroom. We do not support hate speech; this does not reflect our values.’
The statement said that the customer who filmed the video was initially inside the bathroom and wanted to go back in to document the graffiti.
‘The staff handled the situation poorly and we apologize for this error and the distress caused to the customer. We’ve taken corrective measures with our staff and removed the offensive graffiti. We’re not antisemitic; we value diversity and inclusivity.
‘We’re committed to ongoing staff training for a safe and welcoming environment. Thank you for understanding that we are a small business doing our best to operate a community business in a difficult environment,’ the statement added.
The episode has since led social media demanding customers boycott the outlet along with the firing of workers seen in the video, as well as general store workers (who presumably were also cognizant of the graffiti) also now be fired.
It remained unclear if Farley’s East coffee shop has chosen to oust workers who it presumably had formerly supported with the display of the writings in the bathroom or whether the community continued to patronize the outlet amid reports of Israel’s ongoing bombing of Gaza killing over 17,000 individuals, two thirds described as being women and children.
