Chicago – October 26, 2024
The Palestinian-owned Nabala Cafe in Uptown had its windows smashed early Friday, marking the second time the cafe has been vandalized in just two months. The first incident happened over Labor Day weekend.
According to Chicago police, three windows and a glass door were broken between 1 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on Friday. No money was taken from the cafe, and no one has been arrested.
Eyad Zeid, who opened Nabala Cafe in late July in his hometown neighborhood, expected some pushback after displaying a Palestinian flag in the cafe’s window. Still, he was surprised the windows were broken again so soon after the first incident.
“Yesterday was really challenging, to go through the day after everything happened,” Zeid said on Saturday. He explained that while he anticipated some people might be upset by the flag, he was moved by the strong support from the community. He also admitted that he expected the flag might bring controversy, which he described as “really frustrating.”
