Mural honoring immigrants defaced in Berkeley

A mural highlighting the immigrant struggle was defaced last week in central Berkeley, prompting a chorus of concern in the neighborhood.

Within days, neighbors had left signs expressing solidarity at the base of the mural, outside Bi-Rite Liquor at Dwight Way and Sacramento Street.

The mural artist, Mokhtar Paki, posted on Instagram about the damage, drawing messages of support and offers to help with repairs.

"Sinbad Voyage had been vandalized," Paki wrote Friday, adding: "STAY WITH IMMIGRANTS!"

Responses poured in.

"The mural is a testament to what we’re trying to uplift in the US now more than ever! Solidarity," one person wrote.

"So infuriating," said another. "Once upon a time you wouldn’t expect this to happen in Berkeley. But it seems that we lost that home too."

Paki, who immigrated to the United States in 1983 after fleeing Iran, painted "Sinbad Voyage" in 2023.

He described the mural at the time as his "love letter to Berkeley," wrote Persis Karim on a blog for the now-shuttered Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State University.

The mural was inspired in part by "real events taking shape in the world today — that of refugees, immigrants, and displaced people," Karim wrote in 2023.

It was also based in part on a painting by Paki from 2016, "when the refugee crisis in Europe erupted into the news headlines."

Over the weekend, Berkeley police said they had received no reports about the vandalism. But they said they would look into it.

On Sunday, The Scanner stopped by Bi-Rite seeking comment, but the owner was not immediately available.

Neighbors, however, said they were concerned that the incident had been motivated by hate, given the artwork's focus and stated message.

"This mural celebrates diversity and addresses the struggles of the immigrants who survive the hard voyages towards a better life," the on-site artist statement reads. "The faces on the mural are of actual immigrants. Some of them ended up in Berkeley."

Councilman Igor Tregub, who represents the district, said he'd heard about the vandalism from Paki and then gone to see the damage himself.

"It's just absolutely awful," Tregub said. "This is really personal, as an immigrant myself."

Tregub said his office had already alerted his Civic Arts Commission appointee to see what kind of city support might be available to help fix the damage.

He also urged anyone who might have seen anything to contact Berkeley police with details.

Tregub said he'd had the chance to spend time at the mural with Paki last year to learn more about its story. Around the same time, the East Bay chapter of the United Nations Association honored Paki and his mural at its annual dinner.

"When I show folks around the district, this is one of the parts that I'm most proud of," Tregub said.

He and others said they hoped someone would create a GoFundMe campaign so they could pitch in.

"This will not stand," Tregub told The Scanner. "I will do everything in my power to make sure the artist has the resources available to repair this mural."

Even without a fundraiser, some neighbors were already showing their support.

As of Sunday, they had answered the vandalism with homemade signs at the base of the artwork.

"Love your immigrant neighbor," one reads. "Immigrants are the backbone of USA," reads another.