Screenshot of the Tree of Life Synagogue from an ABC News video on YouTube.
A crowdfunding campaign started by Muslim Americans raised over $200,000 to help victims of the shooting massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday, reports The New York Times.
Muslims Unite for Pittsburgh Synagogue, organized by the Muslim American non-profits CelebrateMercy and MPower Change, shattered its initial goal of $25,000 in just six hours, according to the campaign’s updates.
Tarek El-Messidi, a Chicago-based activist and founder of CelebrateMercy, said he heard of the shooting from a friend who runs the Muslim fundraising website LaunchGood. El-Messidi was familiar with how to jumpstart the online campaign because he also created a LaunchGood fundraiser last year that received more than $136,000 to repair Jewish headstones vandalized in St. Louis and Philadelphia.
Muslims, let’s stand with our Jewish cousins against hate, bigotry, & violence. https://t.co/RCl4p4AOGV
— Tarek El-Messidi (@Elmessidi) October 27, 2018
“Putting our religious differences or even your political differences aside, the core of all of us is that we have a shared humanity,” said El-Messidi. “We really wanted to reach out as human beings to help.”
Gunman Robert Bowers opened fire inside the synagogue Saturday morning, killing 11 people. “They’re committing genocide to my people,” Bowers reportedly told police, according to an FBI affidavit. “I just want to kill Jews.” He now faces 44 charges, 32 of which are punishable by death, according to CNN.
An outpouring of support followed the tragedy, with blood banks keeping their doors open late and vigils being held citywide.
“The Pittsburgh community is our family; what happens to one of us is felt by us all,” the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh said in a statement, reports KFOR.
El-Messidi hopes the LaunchGood campaign will raise enough to cover the slain victims’ funeral costs and the medical bills of those who were hospitalized.
Iranian American Shay Khatiri created a GoFundMe campaign that raised over $1 million so far for the synagogue’s repairs, the survivors, and the victims’ families.
“When I look at the name of the donors, there are Steins and Bergs, and there are Mohammeds, there are generic American names, and there are Asian ones,” Khatiri wrote on GoFundMe. “It is only fitting that Americans of all backgrounds — immigrant, native-born, Jewish, atheist, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, etc. — are uniting [against] this hateful act. America is beautiful!”
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