Muslim activists launch effort to repair vandalized Jewish cemetery

A campaign launched by Muslim activists is raising funds to help repair dozens of gravestones that were vandalized at a historical Jewish cemetery near St. Louis Monday.

The LaunchGood fundraiser, called “Muslims Unite to Repair Jewish Cemetery,” surpassed its $20,000 goal within hours of its creation. Its organizers, Linda Sarsour of MPower Change and Tarek El-Messidi of CelebrateMercy, launched the campaign to benefit the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, which saw more than 100 headstones damaged in a possible anti-Semitic incident. No arrests have been made.

“Muslim Americans stand in solidarity with the Jewish-American community to condemn this horrific act of desecration against the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery,” the fundraising page states. “While these senseless acts have filled us with sorrow, we reflect on the message of unity, tolerance, and mutual protection found in the Constitution of Medina: an historic social contract between the Medinan Jews and the first Muslim community.

“We are also inspired by the example of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who stood up to pay respects for a passing Jewish funeral procession” organizers said. “When questioned on why he stood for a Jewish funeral, he responded, ’Is it not a human soul?’ Through this campaign, we hope 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. We pray that this restores a sense of security and peace to the Jewish-American community who has undoubtedly been shaken by this event.”

The fundraiser had collected more than $71,000 as of Wednesday morning. Organizers said $20,000 will be donated to Chesed Shel Emeth, while any additional funds “will assist other vandalized Jewish centers nationwide.”

University City Police said they were reviewing surveillance footage from the cemetery and nearby businesses to find those responsible for the vandalism, which was discovered the same day that 11 Jewish community centers nationwide received hoax bomb threats, the New York Daily News reported.

Mr. El-Messidi, whose CelebrateMercy created the “Muslims United for San Bernardino” campaign in December 2015, said unity is something his organization is passionate about.

“Every person deserves to rest in peace,” he told the Daily News Tuesday. “No one wants to see the grave of their loved ones desecrated.”