Rutgers Center For Islamic Life Vandalized During Eid | EUROtoday

An Islamic scholar heart at Rutgers was damaged into and vandalized early Wednesday morning, and the intruder or intruders smashed spiritual objects and TVs and ripped down a Palestinian flag, in accordance with a chaplain on the faculty.

A video of the harm, shared with HuffPost, confirmed damaged glass protecting the ground of the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, or “CILRU.” The break-in occurred on Eid al-Fitr, which marks the top of the holy month of Ramadan and started Tuesday night time.

“This is a day in which we keep saying Allahu Akbar‘God is greater.’ So someone might want to trash our building, but they can’t trash our will or our hearts,” Kaiser Aslam, the Muslim chaplain at Rutgers, informed HuffPost over the cellphone Wednesday. “We’re grateful no one got hurt in this incident, and we’re going to build back in a better way than it was.”

Aslam mentioned the vandal or vandals destroyed spiritual objects, together with a plaque with the phrase Masha Allah — Arabic for “by the will of God” — but in addition that televisions within the constructing and even Star Wars collectible figurines in his workplace had additionally been destroyed. Though most destroyed objects had been left on the ground, he mentioned he had nonetheless not been capable of finding a Palestinian flag that had been ripped off of a flagpole contained in the constructing.

An electronic mail alert from Rutgers University mentioned campus police had been investigating “a burglary, criminal mischief, and bias crime,” which reportedly occurred in a single day, round 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. Jonathan Holloway, the college’s president, mentioned in an electronic mail to college students that the incident was “an affront to our values as a community.”

Holloway mentioned, “Hate has no place at Rutgers. Islamophobia and all forms of intolerance come from a place of ignorance.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) mentioned Wednesday he was “disgusted” to be taught of the vandalism and {that a} prison investigation was underway.

“Islamophobia has NO place in New Jersey,” Murphy mentioned on Xpreviously often known as Twitter. Aslam mentioned Murphy known as Wednesday morning to want him Eid Mubarak and to say, “We’re going to bring the full force of justice on this incident.” New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin mentioned in a separate assertion Wednesday that his workplace was working with regulation enforcement and prosecutors “to investigate this matter and hold those involved accountable.”

The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations welcomed the investigation of what it mentioned was a “deeply distressing” occasion of desecration and likewise known as on Rutgers to “heed the concerns of Muslim students who have long expressed concern of the rise [in] anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate.” The chair of CILRU’s board, Atiya Aftab, mentioned the vandalism was “undoubtedly fueled by Islamophobia [and] is clearly a hate crime targeting our Muslim population at Rutgers.”

According to Aslam, it appeared an intruder broke the window on the coed heart’s again door and was then capable of open the door from the within. He mentioned police had been reviewing close by safety cameras for potential investigative data.

The chaplain mentioned CILRU had gone years with out an incident like Wednesday morning’s break-in. He mentioned he believed it was related to Eid al-Fitr and the continuing Israeli navy operation within the Gaza Strip.

“To say the campus has been in an anxious state would be a severe understatement,” he mentioned.

“I’ve seen more activism on campus — protest rallies, vigils — than ever before, and of course, the Muslim community, the Arab community, is feeling vilified in many ways, because of how the conflict, or the ongoing genocide, is being covered. And CILRU was a safe haven for our students. So I can’t imagine this isn’t connected.”

Despite the break-in, Eid al-Fitr is “a day of celebration,” Aslam mentioned.

“It seems like this is supposed to be something to scare us, but we’re still going to celebrate on this day,” he added, “and we’re still going to make sure CILRU is known as a safe haven for our students and any students.”

Rowaida Abdelaziz contributed reporting.