Muslims Raise $75k for Desecrated Jewish Cemetery: ‘No Place for This Type of Hate’

Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence makes a surprise stop at the cemetery to assist in the clean-up.

By Liberty McArtor Published on February 22, 2017

Muslims around the nation are raising money to help repair a Jewish cemetery that was vandalized in Missouri over the weekend.

As of late Wednesday morning, over $75,000 was raised through LaunchGood, a Muslim crowd funding platform.

“The Muslim-American community extends our hands to help rebuild this sacred space where Jewish-American families have laid their loved ones to rest since the late 1800’s,” the online fundraising page states. “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.”

Organizers originally listed the fundraising goal as $20,000. The goal was surpassed in three hours. “Any additional funds raised in this campaign will assist other vandalized Jewish centers nationwide,” according to an update on the page.

The vandalism happened over the weekend when over 100 headstones in Chesed Shel Emeth Society cemetery, located in a St. Louis suburb, were knocked over or otherwise defaced.

Repairs and an investigation were in progress Tuesday, CNN reported.

A journalist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted Wednesday morning that most of the headstones had been righted.

Rabbi Susan Talve of Central Reform Congregation told local news station KSDK she thinks the cemetery vandalism, as well as bomb threats at multiple Jewish community centers Monday, represent a new wave of anti-Semitism.

President Donald Trump denounced the bomb threats and the cemetery desecration Tuesday during an address at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

“The story is not the desecration,” Talve told KSDK. “We can fix that and we will and we’ll make it better than ever. The story here is the story of all of the people who have come forward to say no to hate, people who know what hate is themselves and have come in solidarity to stand with the Jewish community.”

Talve said that other religious leaders including priests and African American pastors have also reached out to her with support.

UPDATE: Vice President Mike Pence and Missouri’s Republican Governor Eric Greitens made an unannounced visit to the cemetery Wednesday afternoon to assist in the cleanup effort. “There is no place in America for hatred, prejudice, or acts of violence, or anti-Semitism,” Pence said, “I must tell you the people of Missouri are inspiring the nation by your love and care for this place and the Jewish community.”

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