Dubai Mediterranean Restaurant defaced with anti-Islamic graffiti

The Madison Police Department is investigating a suspected hate crime at Dubai Mediterranean Restaurant on State Street, which included substantial damage and anti-Islamic graffiti.

One or more people entered the restaurant on the 400 block of State Street between 1:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to the police department’s incident report. The investigation is ongoing. Police are asking anyone with information to contact Madison Area Crimestoppers at (608) 266-6014 or online at p3tips.com.

The vandalism comes on the heels of another incident on Saturday, where the police department received numerous calls regarding an antisemitic display on the 100 block of State Street. That investigation is also ongoing, the incident report states. 

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, the City Council and the Madison Police Department released a joint statement Wednesday about the recent incidents, calling for the community to come together. The statement said this week’s events come “on top of a string of troubling Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents over the past months.”

Tensions have continued to rise across the country as the Israel-Hamas war continues, including in Madison where a neo-Nazi group protested in downtown Madison on Nov. 20, carrying flags with swastikas and shouting antisemitic rhetoric.

“While the city is strongly committed to protecting the right to engage in protected political speech, there can be no tolerance for crossing the line into criminal conduct that harms members of our community,” the joint statement says. “Hate is not welcome here, and the city will put all of our resources towards investigating this and any incident that crosses that line.”

Rhodes-Conway urged the community to not give in to hate, ignorance or intimidation.

“No matter our background we must all come together to support each other, especially in moments of crisis,” she said.

Police Chief Shon Barnes said in the statement that “we also believe that all residents and visitors of our community should have the right to feel safe on our streets, at their businesses and in their homes. I urge everyone to help us with that by reporting potential crimes of hate or bias to us immediately.”

State Rep. Francesca Hong, who represents the 76th Assembly District in downtown Madison and is also a restaurant owner, took to social media to condemn the vandalism at Dubai Mediterranean Restaurant. 

“This is heinous, and I am disgusted that anti-Muslim hate continues to go unchecked and is growing in our community,” Hong wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Hong said she is in touch with the restaurant owners and that they are not comfortable with the community raising money for them at this time.

“They’d like us to join them in showing resilience and working together to overcome hate with togetherness,” Hong said.