Muslim crowdfunding activists enlist to help 2nd vandalized Jewish cemetery
Tarek El-Medissi, whose campaign has raised over $135K for St. Louis graveyard, says he will divert funds to Philadelphia as well
A Muslim American activist who helped raise over $100,000 to help repair a vandalized Jewish cemetery in Missouri last week has launched a renewed fundraising effort after Jewish burial grounds in Philadelphia were similarly desecrated.
Tarek El-Messidi, along with Linda Sarsour, started the LaunchGood.com campaign, titled “Muslims Unite to Repair Jewish Cemetery,” on February 21, after more than 170 gravestones were found to have been toppled outside St. Louis.
The project, which initially aimed to raise only $20K, eclipsed that goal within three hours. Within two days it had brought in $115K, and currently stands at $135K, with 21 days to go.
When hundreds of headstones were found toppled at a cemetery in Philadelphia on Sunday, El-Messidi, who lives nearby, rushed to the scene.
“Seeing this in person was very devastating. Many people there were embracing one another in tears due to what they saw,” he wrote on Facebook.
News just broke earlier today that another Jewish cemetery was vandalized – this time in Philadelphia (where I currently live). I was able to rush over to the cemetery immediately when people first began to arrive at the scene. An individual there counted 539 headstones toppled and broken! Seeing this in person was very devastating. Many people there were embracing one another in tears due to what they saw. I want to ask all Muslims to reach out to your Jewish brothers and sisters and stand together against this bigotry. Last week, our Muslim community raised money for the vandalized Jewish Cemetery in St Louis. Since we raised well above the goal, we can now use extra funds to help here in Philadelphia and at another vandalized cemetery in Colorado that we just learned about. We must stand together against these acts of racism, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia. Learn more and help the crowdfunding campaign at this link: launchgood.com/cemetery.
Posted by Tarek El-Messidi on Sunday, February 26, 2017
El-Messidi asked “all Muslims to reach out to your Jewish brothers and sisters and stand together against this bigotry…We must stand together against these acts of racism, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia.
“Last week, our Muslim community raised money for the vandalized Jewish Cemetery in St Louis. Since we raised well above the goal, we can now use extra funds to help here,” he wrote.
An update on the fundraising page said: “After assisting the St Louis cemetery, we plan to allocate significant funds from this campaign to Philadelphia’s cemetery.”
The Anti-Defamation League has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals who desecrated the Philadelphia cemetery.
Police said that the incident at the city’s Mount Carmel Cemetery was an act of vandalism and have opened an investigation, according to a local ABC affiliate.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon condemned the incident, writing on Twitter that the “Philadelphia Jewish cemetery desecration is shocking and a source of worry. Full confidence US authorities catch and punish culprits.”
The vandalism at the Jewish graveyard in Missouri was decried by leading American Jewish groups, who called on the US authorities to take action in response to a perceived recent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the US. It was also followed by US President Donald Trump’s first explicit condemnation over the trend.
On Wednesday, US Vice President Mike Pence visited the Chesed Shel Emeth Society cemetery outside of St. Louis where the incident took place, joining Missouri’s Jewish Governor Eric Greitens and other volunteers in an interfaith service and cleanup effort.
In addition to the vandalism at the Jewish cemeteries, there were also instances of anti-Semitic vandalism at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, in a suburb of Buffalo, New York and in Miami Beach over the past week.
JTA and Raphael Ahren contributed to this report.
