Expressing solidarity with the Jewish community, American Muslims has raised more than $ 50,000 to repair a vandalized Jewish cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.
Titled “Muslims United to Repair Jewish Cemetery,” an online fundraiser was set up on Tuesday and broke its initial $20,000 goal in a few hours. The figure surged past $57,000 by Wednesday, according to Tarek El-Messidi, a Muslim-American social activist.
The fund raiser was coordinated through a crowd-funding platform. Messidi collaborated the effort with Linda Sarsour, an American of Palestinian origin.
Contributed by more than 2,000 people, the money would be used to repair a historical Jewish cemetery where over the weekend more than 170 headstones were damaged at the Chesed Shel Emeth Society burial ground, according to police. The attack came amid bomb threats against dozens of Jewish centers across the US.
From the start of the year through Monday, at least 69 bomb threats had reportedly been made to 54 Jewish centers in America and Canada. The FBI has been investigating some of the threats.
“Muslim Americans stand in solidarity with the Jewish-American community to condemn this horrific act of desecration against the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery,” read a statement by Celebrate Mercy, the organization behind the fundraiser.
“We also extend our deepest condolences to all those who have been affected and to the Jewish community at large,” the statement added.
According to the Center, once the cemetery’s full restoration is done, the remaining funds “will be allocated to repair any other vandalized Jewish centers.”
Describing itself as a foundation that aims “to teach the life and character of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)” through online campaign and social media, Celebrate Mercy said the fundraiser was an attempt “to send a united message from the Jewish and Muslim communities that
there is no place for this type of hate, desecration, and violence in America.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has condemned the incident of vandalism, as he addressed the subject days after rights activists criticized the administration for not coming out strongly against the act.
“Anti-Semitism is horrible and it’s going to stop and it has to stop,” Trump said in an interview with MSNBC.
