Palestinian Nabala Cafe in Chicago receives community support after vandalism

After a Palestinian cafe in Chicago was vandalised last week, members of the tight-knit community are showing their support to the establishment.

During the three-day Labour Day weekend in the US, either late Sunday night or early Monday morning, the Palestinian-owned Nabala Cafe was attacked, when one of its windows, which was displaying the Palestinian flag, was hit and broken. Video surveillance helped identify the suspect, whose name has not yet been publicly released.

The Chicago chapter of the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)-Chicago have announced that they are coming together "to politically and financially support the owner of the cafe, enjoy its food and beverages, and raise some humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people of Gaza."

In an Instagram post, the cafe issued a statement expressing gratitude to community members and others for their support following the vandalism. 

"Over the last few days, we've been so grateful for the immense community support that we've received after our window was broken. We've been focused on using that for further community building and emphasising the importance of our solidarity to support the people of Gaza and marginalised people across Chicago," they wrote.

However, they also expressed disappointment that some people have cast doubt over this incident being an intentional act targeting Palestinians.

"Our concern is the constant doubt cast over incidents of violence against Palestinians. Incidents like this have happened so often over the last year, and they are just a continuation of a pattern of violence that has existed for decades. Why is there still doubt?" they wrote.

Since the outbreak of Israel's war in Gaza in October, reports of bias incidents against Muslims in the US have skyrocketed, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.