Legal lawsuit now being waged by anti-Muslim activist and lawyer.
By Dileep Thekkethil
In a counter lawsuit filed by the California-based café that allegedly kicked out a group of Muslim women for wearing hijab, an anti-Muslim activist and lawyer has accused the ladies of “civilizational jihad”.
According to the lawsuit, seven women – out of which six were wearing hijabs, were thrown out of Urth Cafe in Laguna Beach in April, and soon they approached the court accusing the cafe of racial attack.
On the contrary to what the women have accused, the cafe has claimed that the women violated its policy that limits seating time for 45 minutes and also said that there were other women at the hotel who were wearing hijab while the incident happened.
David Yerushalmi, the lawyer representing the hotel, also claimed that the hotel has an owner named Jilla Berkman, who is a Muslim.
Calling the discrimination suit an attempt at “extortion”, the lawyer also attacked the law firm representing the Muslim women calling its lawyers “ambulance chasers”. Yerushalmi said he is planning to sue the legal team for filing malicious prosecution.
The countersuit that he has brought in this case, however, is for trespassing.
On the other hand, Yerushalmi is a hated figure among the Muslim community for his anti-Muslim activities. He is a leading proponent of the idea that the United States is threatened by the imposition of Muslim religious law, known as Shariah.
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a non-profit advocacy group which collates information on hate groups and extremists say Yerushalmi is a man who believes only a Muslim who fully breaks with the customs of Shariah can be considered socially tolerable. Ideally, he would outlaw Islam and deport its adherents altogether.
Yerushalmi’s counter lawsuit alleges that the case is fabricated and is part of a wider “civilization jihad” waged by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which according to him is an insidious group that aims “to weaken western civilization”.
Mohammad Tajsar, a lawyer representing the seven women said: “Urth Caffe has decided to hire a lawyer who has made a career out of crusading against Muslims in America.” He also added “Their decision to hire this particular gentleman frankly makes our case. It demonstrates that this organization has no regard for the very Muslim clientele that it claims it caters to.”
Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of the Los Angeles branch of CAIR, was quoted by The Guardian saying that CAIR was not involved in the case against the Café as Yerushalmi claims.
“I’m not privy to the details of the case, of their claim, and I would hope that a fair trial would allow us to know what happened,” Ayloush said to The Guardian. “But if anyone had any doubts about what happened on that day, those doubts are eliminated by the fact that the owners of Urth Caffe decided to retain David Yerushalmi.
“There are 1.2 million attorneys in America, and for them to choose the most hateful, the most bigoted attorney, tells a lot about the values that Urth Caffe’s owners hold,” he added.