From Chicago Sun-Times
BY HUNTER CLAUSS Staff Reporter
A Muslim community organization on Friday said “a number” of graves at a southwest suburban cemetery have been desecrated, the latest in a series of anti-Muslim incidents in the area.
Evergreen Park Cemetery is home to about 500 Muslim graves, and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago said some of those graves were covered in graffiti.
“The southwest side has been home to a large Muslim and Arab American population for over 30 years,” said Ahlam Jbara, the associate director for the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. “It is shocking to find such hatred, especially at a cemetery.”
Evergreen Park Police Department officials did not immediately return calls for comment Friday morning.
The desecrated graves come after a man fired a high-powered pellet gun at Morton Grove mosque last week and someone threw an “acid bomb” at a Muslim school in Lombard on Sunday. The council will hold a rally in response to the attacks on Friday at 5 p.m. near Congress and Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
