Uptown community shows solidarity for vandalized Palestinian-owned cafe

The Uptown community rallied Sunday in support of a cafe in the neighborhood that had a window displaying a Palestinian flag smashed last week in what the owner believes was a targeted attack.

There were no empty tables at Nabala Cafe, 4660 N. Broadway, and the line stretched out the door as customers wearing keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags poured into the eatery Sunday afternoon.

"Nabala Cafe we love you" was written in chalk on the sidewalk just beyond the cafe's front door.

Cafe owner Eyad Zeid expressed gratitude for the overflow crowd but said the attention instead should be given to the Palestinian people who continue to suffer in the Israel-Hamas war.

"I hope that people really do what they can do to end it," said Zeid, 29. "It's wonderful that we are getting this attention for the business and everything, but what's way more important is Gaza."

Zeid said he believes the person who broke the window at his cafe on Sept. 1 targeted the business because of the Palestinian flag hanging in the window.

The person, who was captured on surveillance video, was seen pacing around the area for some time before breaking the window, Zeid said. They also didn't break any other windows, just the one displaying the flag, and they didn't try to go in and steal anything, he added.

The attacker, whom Zeid described as a male, was also seen on video wearing a keffiyeh to hide his face, he said.

"It's honestly insulting that the person was wearing that as well," Zeid said. "It feels very targeted, just based around that stuff."

No arrests have been reported. Chicago police didn't say whether the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, one of the groups that organized Sunday's event, blamed hateful rhetoric surrounding the Israel-Hamas war for the attack.

"This is the kind of thing that leads to violent attacks against the community," he said. "We knew that this sort of thing was going to happen."

In a separate incident, police are investigating two incidents of vandalism at the Muslim Community Center in Irving Park on the Northwest Side last week.

Zeid grew up in southwest suburban Burbank and has lived in Uptown for five years. The cafe opened in July and is named after his family's home village of Bayt Nabala which was destroyed in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Zeid said he wanted his cafe to be enmeshed within the community, which he says is very supportive. After the window was smashed some members of the community showed their solidarity by decorating the wooden plank that was used to cover the gap with artwork.

The community also helped collect more than $10,000 for the cafe through an online fundraiser, much more than the $1,000 or so it would cost to replace the window. The rest of the funds will be donated to Middle East Children's Alliance, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid in the region, Zeid said.

The community showed up for the cafe again on Sunday.

Christina Sanchez, 54, and her three children were among those who showed up to at least buy a cup of coffee. Sanchez said her family is of Mexican and Palestinian background, so the issue is personal for them.

"I think it's horrible that they just opened up and have already been vandalized," Sanchez said. "It's horrible, things like this should not be happening."

Ahmed Khan, 29, drove about an hour to Uptown from Lombard.

He lamented what he said was the latest example of targeted attacks against the Palestinian community, but said the show of solidarity shows the community's resilience.

"It'll show a lot of people that if they attack us we'll always come back even stronger," he said.