Come together: Muslims raise 100k to repair Jewish cemetery in wake of hate crime

The nature of news does not often warrant warm fuzzies--nor (usually) do sentences with the words Muslims and Jews placed together. However, a campaign started by Muslims to help out their Jewish brothers and sisters is defying negative stereotypes as we speak.

Some bigots decided that they would desecrate a Jewish cemetery in the US state of Missouri. Hundreds of graves were targeted and tombstones were toppled, some of which broke.

This Muslim Twitter user expressed outrage at the incident:

Disgusted. Hundreds of Graves demolished at this Jewish Cemetery.

I as a Muslim and a Human stand in solidarity with the Jewish community. pic.twitter.com/RaAjKxbcBe

— TheAntiTrump (@_SJPeace_) February 21, 2017

Almost immediately, the Muslim community of Missouri took action. They started a fundraiser with the goal of $20,000 to contribute to repairs.

One day later, the campaign had raised five times that amount, raking in $100,000.

People on Twitter were proud of the Muslim efforts and were quick to spread the news:

Muslim Fundraiser to Repair Jewish Cemetery Raises $100k Alecum Salaam https://t.co/3YICsT4s1W

— PrObama (@proadstudio) February 23, 2017

Note: Alecum salaam means 'peace be upon you' in Arabic and is an Islamic phrase.

Some took the opportunity to embrace the Muslim members of American society:

America is Muslims raising funds to repair Jewish cemetery desecrated by racists and Jews holding signs of support for Muslim neighbors

— Cecillia Wang (@WangCecillia) February 23, 2017

And this user was just pumped for humanity in general:

Incredible. This is what humanity looks like!
Muslim-Americans raise $20,000 to repair vandalized Jewish cemetery.https://t.co/Q8FYaaF87y

— Simran Jeet Singh (@SikhProf) February 22, 2017

Though the rate of hate crimes against minority ethnic and religious groups in the West is on the rise, stories like this one remind us that not all is lost. Inshallah (Arabic phrase for “hopefully”) people of all backgrounds and faiths will follow these Muslim activists’ lead.