Heretic Coffee is walking away from its plan to build a free cafe in Gaza, ending a partnership announced Sept. 18 that drew sharp public criticism within days.

Owner Josh White announced the withdrawal Thursday, Sept. 24, in a social media statement. White said the Southeast Portland nonprofit coffee shop had reached an agreement with Humanite Peace Collective to part ways Monday, Sept. 21.

"I should have brought this to our community first and gotten feedback on this before we went forward," White wrote, as reported by KPTV. "I fully own that I dropped the ball in that, and there is repair work here for us to do."

Heretic had partnered with Humanite to raise $100,000 for a roughly 2,100-square-foot cafe west of Gaza City called "The Dept. of Peace."

The shop would have served free food and drinks to Palestinians daily. By Sept. 20, the fundraiser had pulled in more than $38,000 from donors, according to The Oregonian.

By that same weekend, commenters on Instagram were questioning the project. "Have any of you heard directly from Palestinians asking for a cafe shop to be built in Gaza?" one commenter wrote, according to KOIN.

Others asked why Heretic chose Humanite over Palestinian-led groups already working in Gaza. "Wait, why Humanite? Why not The Sameer Project? Or other Gazan Palestinian groups on the ground there doing the work now?" another wrote.

White said he did a "terrible job" framing the project in his initial social media post and failed to communicate details about the Palestinian team involved. The campaign page included headshots and bios of team members, but the announcement did not.

The funds already raised will go to Humanite's Palestinian team for an event at a Gazan orphanage, according to Heretic's statement. Humanite Peace Collective, a Delaware-based nonprofit, will continue the cafe project independently, using the current fundraising balance and any new donations. No statement from Humanite confirming the split has been published.

White said Heretic plans to "refocus" on local Portland efforts. The volunteer-run shop at 5120 SE 28th Ave. launched a free SNAP breakfast program in October 2025 and has served more than 11,000 meals since, funded by roughly $385,000 from over 12,000 donors, according to KOIN.

White has not specified what the local refocus will look like or when it will begin.