American Jewish Committee Helps Rebuild Arson-Hit Florida Mosque
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — The American Jewish Committee has donated funds to help rebuild a Florida mosque destroyed by arson.
Robert Silverman, the AJC’s director of Muslim-Jewish Relations, visited the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, in central Florida, on Friday to deliver the donation and speak to worshippers at a morning prayer service.
“When Jews were persecuted in Europe during the time of the Inquisition centuries ago, they took shelter in Islamic lands,” Silverman told the assembled, according to an AJC statement. “Welcoming those refugees was an act of kindness that will never be forgotten by the Jewish people. Today, AJC is honored to give back in a small, symbolic way.
“An attack on any house of worship is an affront to all Americans, regardless of their religious affiliation. Burning a mosque is a hate crime condemned by the entire American Jewish community.”
The alleged perpetrator of the arson, Joseph Michael Schreiber, 32, reportedly is Jewish. Schreiber, an ex-convict, is facing at least 30 years in prison if convicted of the attack, which has been classified as a hate crime.
Schreiber, who has posted anti-Islamic material on social media, allegedly set the fire on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
