Muslim-owned Berkeley business vandalized, community rallies behind it
BERKELEY, Calif. (KRON) – An East Bay community is coming together to show support for a Muslim-owned business that was vandalized over the weekend. Dozens of people turned out for a vigil on Monday night.
Pictures shared with KRON4 show Saturday's vandalism at Negeene Mosaed's health clinic, Berkeley Community Physical Therapy. Pro-Palestine posters were scratched out with black ink, and Islamophobic language was painted on the wall.
Mosaed is Iranian-American and says her business was attacked because of her stance on the Gaza-Israel conflict and her cultural background.
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'And this time we were on high alert,' she said. 'And I was definite in my mind that this was a hate crime directed against Palestinians and Middle Eastern people and of course the othering of justifying a genocide, its called the Palestine exception.'
On Monday night, an anti-hate vigil was held in South Berkeley.
'Someone doesn't just randomly vandalize a store out of the blue. It's because of a dehumanization of a group of people that has been taking so long,' said a man named Hesham.
Hesham is from Syria and says he knows all too well about racism. He says the vigil was a chance for Palestinian and Arab voices to speak out against hate.
'It's unfortunate that the event took place. It gives me hope that a lot of people have shown up, and I just hope that more people continue to show up for these causes and are able to make that connection,' Hesham said.
Later in the evening, the City of Berkeley's Peace and Justice Commission held a meeting.
Last year, the commission passed a ceasefire resolution. Mosaed and community members like Matt O'Brien are asking the Berkeley City Council to do the same.
Mosaed hopes that Berkeley's new mayor and council members hear their message and put a ceasefire resolution on the city's next agenda.
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