Jerusalem Coffee House
Coffee shop · Shafter ·
Palestinian coffee with cardamom, orange blossom, tahini
Palestinian coffee with cardamom, orange blossom, tahini
"A new-ish cafe on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Jerusalem Coffee House has quickly become more than just another coffee shop: I learned it acts as a warming station for activists and organizers across the Bay Area and intentionally pairs local community work with global impact. The owner, Abdulrahim “Raheem” Harara (whose parents were born in Gaza), helped forge a partnership to provide a temporary storefront for displaced Gaza-based Covo Coffee, and he frames that work as supporting recently displaced Palestinians. The cafe hosts Covo pop-ups (monthly, with the next installation noted for May 25), provides a cozy setup with a rug in the back where people sit with their shoes off to talk over coffee, and offers free tastings and community-focused events that draw new visitors into the space." - Paolo Bicchieri
"Keeping the lights on late for iftar, Jerusalem Coffee House on Telegraph Avenue puts Palestinian and human rights front and center by hosting People’s Programs and other local organizations and raising money through evening community gatherings starting this weekend." - Paolo Bicchieri
"I found Jerusalem Coffee House, founded and owned by Tenderloin-raised Abdulrahim “Raheem” Harara (whose parents were born in Gaza), has become a go-to cafe and organizing space for the Muslim community and East Bay activists. What began as a boxing club for Muslim women to learn trauma-informed self-defense led Raheem to launch the cafe arm to fund his community work—he’d never worked in a coffee shop and had been saving from two tech jobs before opening. The menu’s rose cardamom lattes and yansoon (anise) tea fit neatly with fourth-wave coffee sensibilities. Permitting delays pushed the planned August 2023 debut to early October, coinciding with the escalation of the Israel–Hamas war, and the new business has since become a site for rallying. During Ramadan the cafe will provide a physical space for iftar on four Fridays (times TBD based on sundown), with events led by Oakland’s People’s Programs, Muslim educational groups, and other nonprofits; food will be potluck-style featuring West African, Algerian, Palestinian, and Latin dishes, and Grand Coffee’s Nabeel Silmi will join to pull shots at one of the events. Raheem connects the cafe’s mission to local need—“Oakland itself is about 60 percent food insecure,” he says—framing Palestinian suffering as reflecting the same traumas faced by Black communities in the U.S." - Paolo Bicchieri
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