Video shows Jewish woman apparently being denied entry to bathroom at Oakland coffee house
Video circulating social media purportedly shows employees at a coffee house in Oakland, California, denying a Jewish woman entry into the restroom because she wanted to document anti-Israel graffiti that was written inside.
The video starts out showing three employees of Farley's Coffee East apparently blocking the woman, who is said on the video to be Jewish, from entering the restroom. As the woman records with her phone, she asks why she's not allowed in, to which one of the employees responds: "I know Israel loves taking private property and saying it's their own, but we gotta have you leave."
"You're also misgendering us, so I need you to leave," another employee tells the woman.
The woman then says that she, “Was a patron here and I have a right to go into the restroom,”
“And we have a right to refuse service," a man replies.
As the woman continues to protest being denied entry to the restroom, an employee of a neighboring business offers her the use of the bathroom next door, but the woman filming refuses. “No, I want to use this one. I should not be excluded and other people allowed," she says.
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The other employee then accuses the woman of wanting to get a video of graffiti in the restroom to claim "anti-Zionism is antisemitism."
"If you agree with it, why are you afraid that I will take a picture of it?" the woman asks.
"Oh — actually yeah, great. Please," the man responds before opening the door and allowing the woman inside.
"History didn't start in 1948, lady," the man says as the woman enters the bathroom and records graffiti that says "Zionism = fascism," among other anti-Israel slogans.
"Free Palestine. Now leave," the other employee tells her.
After the video gained traction, Farley's East posted an apology to its Instagram account, acknowledging that the incident was sparked by "hate speech graffiti that was written in our bathroom."
"We do not support hate speech; this does not reflect our values. After a customer used the bathroom and wished to return to document the graffiti, they were initially denied access and then allowed to re-enter to document the graffiti," the post read.
"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 anti-Semitic; we value diversity and inclusivity. We're committed to ongoing staff training for a safe and welcoming environment."