Muslim Graves Desecrated At Evergreen Park Cemetery

By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 17, 2012 3:40PM

Photo courtesy of the Council of Islamic Relations of Greater Chicago.

For the third time this week a hate crime has been directed at Chicago area Muslims. The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago announced the discovery of desecrated Muslim headstones in Evergreen Park Cemetery on the Southwest side.

The cemetery is the home to 500 Muslim graves. CAIR was alerted to the graffiti after a Palestinian-American man visited the cemetery CAIR associate director Ahlam Jbara said in a press release:

“The Southwest Side has been home to a large Muslim and Arab American population for over 30 years; it is shocking to find such hatred, especially at a cemetery.”

CAIR Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said.

"It should disturb every American that this is happening in 2012. Are we moving forward or regressing? No one should have to live in fear of being harassed, shot, bombed, injured, or killed simply because of their faith, race or ethnicity."

Photo courtesy of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago

A "white balloon release" rally is planned for 5 p.m. at the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Congress Parkway to protest the recent spate of violent attacks against minority communities in Chicago and across the country. This is the third hate crime directed toward Muslims in the Chicago area this week. Last Friday David Conrad was arrested after he fired an air rifle at the Muslim Education Center in Morton Grove. On Monday someone threw an acid bomb at a Muslim school in Lombard. No one was injured in either attack.