Vandals Break Windows with Palestinian Flags at Nabala Cafe for Second Time in Two Months
For the second time in two months, Nabala Cafe in Uptown had its windows — many featuring Palestinian flags or art with messages like "Free Palestine" — smashed overnight.
An employee found the shattered glass strewn across the sidewalk and in the cafe, owner Eyad Zeid told the Sun-Times Friday.
He said the cafe plans to reopen Saturday morning, with the name of the cafe painted on the boarded-up front door.
"I’m OK as I can be, it’s just one thing at a time," Zeid said. "I figured something would happen. We’ve had people write some pretty nasty messages and put stickers up outside on a consistent basis. So, it’s not like after the window was smashed last month, things stopped — it was just lesser stuff."
A Nabala Cafe employee, who preferred to remain anonymous, sweeps the floor of Nabala Cafe, which the owner found vandalized early Friday in Uptown, Oct. 25, 2024. The windows, which are now boarded up, were smashed for the second time since September. The flag was initially placed on the now-boarded up side of the window. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
No one has been arrested. Chicago police said the incident is not being investigated as a hate crime.
When a window was broken in September, the vandal was seen on video pacing around the area before breaking the window with the Palestinian flag in it, Zeid said. The attacker, whom Zeid described as a man, was again wearing a keffiyeh to hide his face Friday morning.
Nothing was taken either time, and police said the person never entered the building.
The one window cost Zeid more than $1,000, which ended up being paid for with community donations. Zeid estimates he’s looking at five or six times that cost for four broken windows, a clean-up crew, and a day without business.
He said he won’t ask the community for money, but was told that someone else already planned to.
"It’s great to see people come through and support however they can, [but] I wish it was under better circumstances," Zeid said. "It would be a lot to ask people for money ourselves."
Nabala Cafe isn’t alone in being targeted. In April, someone smashed a window with a Palestinian flag at Andersonville’s Women & Children First bookstore. Around the same time Nabala Cafe was vandalized in September, bullet holes were found in the windows of the Muslim Community Center in Irving Park and a week later at a Muslim-owned martial arts studio in Lincoln Square.
No one has been arrested in those cases and they’re also being investigated as criminal damage to property, according to Chicago police.
Despite the damage, Zeid said he will continue to display the Palestinian flag and be vocal about his beliefs.
"I hope it makes people have a little more courage," he said. "We have to acknowledge that the U.S. is complicit in this, and we can’t keep covering this as not a genocide."
The Muslim Community Center in Irving Park was vandalized in what advocates and staff at the center say was a targeted attack, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. | Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times
Anne Igoe was on her way in to pick up the cafe’s "viral chocolate bars" when she saw the smashed windows and a sign on the door saying it was closed.
"I’m angry there are people in this city who want to bring violence into our communities, and specifically violence against Palestinians," Igoe said. "It makes me want to come here and shop even more."
Conclusion
The recent vandalism at Nabala Cafe is a disturbing reminder of the ongoing tensions and tensions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The fact that this is not the first time the cafe has been targeted in a short period of time raises concerns about the safety and security of the community. As a society, we must condemn such acts of violence and work towards creating a more inclusive and accepting environment for all.
FAQs
- What happened to the cafe?
The cafe’s windows were broken, and the Palestinian flag was vandalized for the second time in two months. - Has anyone been arrested?
No, no one has been arrested in connection with the incident. - What is being done to investigate the incident?
The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, and the Chicago Police Department is working to identify the perpetrator. - What is the owner’s plan to respond to the incident?
The owner, Eyad Zeid, plans to reopen the cafe and continue to display the Palestinian flag, saying that he will not be deterred by the violence.
