CHICAGO – A Palestinian-owned cafe on the city’s North Side was attacked and the owner is convinced it was a hate crime.
“I mean, it was disheartening to say the least,” said Eyad Zeid, owner of Nabala Cafe in Uptown.
The cafe’s store window was smashed out at around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The suspect did not steal any items and did not even go inside the cafe, but did smash a window adorned with a Palestinian flag.
“They broke one window. It only had the Palestinian flag in it,” Zeid said.
According to Zeid, an unknown suspect with a baseball bat smashed out a large window of the cafe, located in the 4600 block of North Broadway. The suspect was captured on Zeid’s landlord’s surveillance camera.
“It looks like it’s one individual who has his face wrapped up, just pacing around for a few minutes and then goes and smashes the window out and runs away,” Zeid said.
Zeid is a Palestinian-American who grew up in Burbank. On Labor Day morning, he was cleaning up the mess while his loyal customers organized a GoFundMe page to help repair the damage, far surpassing their goal.
“We actually ended up tripling that goal and are going to be now donating all that excess to MECA,” Zeid said.
MECA stands for Middle Eastern Children’s Alliance, which according to Zeid, is an organization that helps children in Gaza.
Within hours, the boarded up window was converted into artwork by Nabala Cafe artists. The cafe has displayed local artwork since it opened in July.
“It’s mostly Palestinian and Palestinian-American, and I think they’re beautiful,” visual artist Cat Roberts Verser said.
Chicago police said Area 3 Detectives are investigating and are looking for evidence to determine if this was an act of vandalism or a hate crime.