Thousands of dollars have been raised in a few short hours by Muslim groups hoping to help victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
Two Muslim groups raised more than $120,000 through a crowdfunding campaign on the Muslim-focused crowdfunding site, LaunchGood, The Hill reported.
“The Muslim-American community extends its hands to help the shooting victims, whether it is the injured victims or the Jewish families who have lost loved ones,” the page read. “We wish to respond to evil with good, as our faith instructs us, and send a powerful message of compassion through action.”
The goal was raised to $50,000 after the $25,000 goal was reached in only six hours. The new goal was reached in 24 hours and exceeded even the updated $75,000 objective.
“In about 30 hours, we’ve raised $100K; that’s over $3000 per hour! Goal raised to $125K,” the campaign reported Sunday night.
Celebrate Mercy and MPower Change, the Muslim-American nonprofit organizations that launched the campaign, announced Monday morning that they had “transferred the first installment of funds ($25K) to the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh to immediately begin disbursing help to the families.”
The funds are intended to help families pay the funeral expenses and medical bills of victims from Saturday’s anti-Semitic attack on the Tree of Life synagogue that left 11 people dead.
The suspected gunman, Robert Bowers, is facing charges on 29 federal counts, according to The Hill.
Tarek El-Messidi, a Muslim American who started the fundraising campaign told the The Washington Post that news of the attack “made me sick to my stomach.”
“When I saw the news, I thought, ‘This could have very well been at a mosque or a Hindu temple,’” the speaker and activist said. “We live in a time where so much bigoted rhetoric is being amplified.”
He noted that religious places of worship should not be targets of violence.
“In religion, we’re all worshiping a higher power, especially with our Jewish cousins,” El-Messidi said. “We share a lot theologically with the Jewish community, and a foundational teaching is you never harm religious spaces — regardless if it’s a mosque, a temple, church. One should never be worried about being harmed or killed in a place of worship.”
The crowdfunding page reiterated its condemnation of “hate and violence” in the nation.
“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 and violence in America,” the campaign page read. “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 initiative was hailed on social media as Twitter users applauded the “ray of light” in the call for compassion and unity.
These kind of initiatives restore my faith in humanity. Muslims & Jews in the U.S. are there for each other time & time again after attacks. May the children of Abraham continue to stand in solidarity. May they unite to fight forces of evil. Salam. Shalom. https://t.co/Nv8grS66v3
— Dr. Craig Considine (@CraigCons) October 29, 2018
Now THIS is America! Absolutely LOVE!!!!!! Thank you!
— Janet Allegrezza (@JanetMamajo4) October 28, 2018
In this dark hour, a ray of light.
A crowdfunding effort by the Muslim American community raised over 120k for #Pittsburgh victims: “We wish to respond to evil with good, as our faith instructs us, and send a powerful message of compassion through action.”https://t.co/6xlbJfNKjy— Embassy of Israel (@IsraelinUSA) October 29, 2018
The best of America: A crowdfunding campaign started by two Muslim groups has raised over $50,000 for the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, in an effort to “respond to evil with good and send a powerful message of compassion through action.” https://t.co/d6EsoXpyS8
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) October 28, 2018
This is how we do it https://t.co/3ifQyflAX5
— Jody Dean (@jodywdean) October 29, 2018
The campaign on LaunchGood, a Muslim-focused crowdfunding site, blew past its $25,000 goalhttps://t.co/Qw5hamMxUc
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) October 29, 2018
In John Adams’ memorable line, “We must hang together, or we’ll all hang separately.” I rejoice at this initiative by Muslim Americans, which shows the importance of solidarity across ALL communities as we confront hate, division and terror.
— Rick Petree (@RickPetree) October 28, 2018
This melts my heart.
— Still With Merrick (@PreAnteDiluvian) October 29, 2018
??This is who WE ARE AMERICA!
— PA (@Peggysue21Adams) October 28, 2018
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
— Jon’s FlwrWrld (@flwrman) October 28, 2018
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