Muslims Hasten To Right Toppled Jewish Headstones In Rochester
Members of the Muslim community in Rochester seemingly raced to the cemetery to right toppled Jewish headstones. Image by Twitter
Soon after a Jewish cemetery was found vandalized in Rochester, New York in the third such incident in two weeks, local Muslims were on the scene helping clean up the damage, in another sign of an interfaith alliance that’s been forged between two communities both targeted by a spike in hate crimes.
Police have been investigating as a hate crime the toppling of almost two dozen headstones in the Waad Hakolel Cemetery, the third incident of its kind in the past two weeks, after Jewish burial grounds in Philadelphia and St. Louis were defaced.
Since the November election of President Trump, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic bias incidents have been on the rise, and the two communities have sought to support one another. Following the desecration of the St. Louis cemetery, Muslim civil rights activist Linda Sarsour raised more than $100,000 to repair the damage. In Texas, a synagogue volunteered its facilities to a group of Muslims after vandals damaged their mosque.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
