The Palestinian-owned cafe in Uptown, attacked twice in two months, has remained resilient.
Nabala Cafe envelops the senses. The aroma of cardamom, cloves and coffee floats between bites of croissants and baklava. Espresso makers whir and customers chatter over toasty cups of chai which warm their hands.
But sight tells a different story.
The windows are boarded up. Posters, Palestinian flags and paintings line the walls. A handwritten sign on the makeshift door reads, “BY THE MILLIONS WE’LL RETURN.”
Nabala Cafe is a Palestinian-owned cafe at 4660 N. Broadway. The establishment, which opened in July, has been attacked twice in the past two months, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Owner Eyad Zeid said despite the Chicago Police Department leaving him in the dark about their progress investigating the crimes, he’s grateful for the support he’s received from the community.
“Our focus has been on recovering and leaning into the community that’s been supporting us,” Zeid said. “It’s been amazing — between the donations that we’ve received through GoFundMe to replace the windows, to the artwork that people have done to beautify the space outside, to just people coming to the cafe and hanging out and supporting, it’s been incredible.”
The estimated value of the damage to the three windows and door was $5,000, according to a case report obtained by The Phoenix. The report listed the incident as “criminal damage to property,” though it’s also listed on CPD’s online database of hate crimes and the CPD’s Civil Rights Unit has been notified.
The cafe’s name comes from Bayt Nabala, a Palestinian village Zeid’s family once called home. Bayt Nabala was destroyed in 1948 during Israel’s mass expulsion of Palestinians in an event called the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” in Arabic. The village’s community has stayed strong, though, Zeid said, and maintains their traditions overseas, which inspired the cafe’s name.
“I felt the tribute was a really great representation of the community that I wanted to build within Uptown,” Zeid said.
While most regulars are from the Uptown neighborhood, Zeid said he sees members of the Arab and Palestinian communities in suburban Chicago come by on weekends. Cook County is home to the largest Palestinian population in the country, according to the U.S. Census.
Zeid said he was born and raised in Burbank, a suburb of Chicago, and moved to Uptown in late 2019. He said he’d wanted to create a business for years and first imagined a hookah lounge, but was deterred by the red tape of city ordinances regarding hookah, so he swiveled to the idea of a cafe.
The social, community-minded aspect of the establishment was key, Zeid said. The cafe hosts events like film screenings, concert afterparties and live music performances featuring oud, a Middle Eastern lute-like instrument.
Second-year political science major Ariana Santos said she’s visited the cafe three times, including for a showing and discussion of the documentary “The Occupation of the American Mind.”
Santos, who worked for over two years at Palestinian-founded coffee chain Philz, said she felt the chai at Nabala Cafe was more authentic than that of Philz Coffee.
“It felt like a coffeehouse that you’d walk into in Palestine,” Santos said. “The sense of community was fantastic.”
Philz Coffee was unavailable for comment.
Santos said Nabala Cafe fills a hole left by the disappearance of third spaces, or areas for people to gather outside of home and work.
“I think they’re fully aware — and the entire community should be fully aware — of how necessary of a business they are,” Santos said. “The sense of community that I saw there was so palpable, heartwarming.”
Loyola’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine condemned the attacks on the cafe in an email to The Phoenix.
“These attacks are not only an assault on Palestinian businesses but are part of a broader campaign of intimidation aimed at silencing Palestinian voices and their allies,” SJP wrote.
The Chicago chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations also condemned the attacks. Maggie Slavin, operations manager of CAIR-Chicago, said the responsibility falls not on the community, but on biased media attention and systemic anti-Palestinian rhetoric.
“I don’t think we’re going to see any type of de-escalation of local attacks that happen to people or to businesses until those who are responsible, those in power, are willing to acknowledge this is a genocide,” Slavin said.
Slavin said buying coffee and pastries from Nabala Cafe — as well as patronizing any Palestinian-owned shops in Chicago — is a tangible way of supporting Palestinians.
Zeid said the attacks were clearly a response to the cafe’s solidarity with Palestine, but were ultimately marginal compared to the bombings, starvation and torture Palestinians in Gaza undergo every day.
“We are not experiencing even 1% of the violence that folks in Gaza are experiencing,” Zeid said. “I just want to make sure that people continue to center Gaza and center the folks that are going through some of the most horrific and terrifying acts of violence possible.”
The cafe will continue to host get-togethers, parties and film screenings, including a documentary about Japanese-Palestinian solidarity Nov. 9 and a showcase of Palestinian and queer cinema Nov. 10. Upcoming events are listed on the business’ Instagram.
Nabala Cafe is open Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Featured image taken by Mao Reynolds | The Phoenix.
