In a remarkable gesture of love and support, American Muslim leaders have expressed solidarity with Philly Jewish cemetery after about 100 headstones were toppled and vandalized at Mount Carmel Jewish Cemetery in Frankford, Philadelphia in Pennsylvania over the weekend and remained damaged on Monday.
Condemnations came from American Muslim leaders like Osama Al-Qasem, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, as well as Dr. Nasim Rehmatullah of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, who said that his group was “deeply troubled by these rising and ongoing attacks on our Jewish sisters. Brothers and members from our Philadelphia chapter are in route to assist in cleanup,” Metro.us, reported Tuesday, February 28.
Philadelphia Police have called the incident “an abominable crime that appears to target these particular headstones,” but wouldn’t yet classify it as a hate crime. In an email, a police spokesman said the public “must allow the investigation to take its course before we can determine a specific motive or label as a particular type of crime.” Detectives are still investigating.
According to investigations, the crime occurred sometime on Saturday night. It came a day before dozens of Jewish centers along the East Coast received bomb threats, including eleven in Pennsylvania solely.
This case of vandalism in Philadelphia follows a spate of anti-Semitic incidents that have rattled the American Jewish community in recent days.
St. Louis Jewish cemetery was vandalized last week, rendering the whole Jewish community shaken and gripped with fear.
Muslim activists Linda Sarsour and Tarek El-Messidi reacted remarkably to this incident with a crowd-funding campaign to support the repair of the Jewish cemetery
Local leaders of all faiths have also deplored the Mount Carmel vandalism, with some openly connecting the rise in such crimes to the election of President Trump.
Jacob Bender, who is executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations-Philadelphia office, stated: “All faiths should join together to defeat the extremist elements now on the rise throughout our nation, including some at the highest echelons of our national government.”
In recent months, Philadelphia has seen several incidents of swastikas scrawled on walls, rocks thrown through synagogue windows and vandalism reported at Jewish centers.
According to Metro.us, a $13,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals, with $10,000 from the Anti-Defamation League and $3,000 from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5.