Politics

Jewish and Muslim Americans Are Standing Together in the Wake of Hate Crimes

March 15th 2017

Tucson, Ariz., has seen a great deal share of bigotry as of late. Not only did a Jewish Community Center receive a bomb threat last week, but on Monday someone broke into an Islamic Center and destroyed over 100 copies of the Quran. Now, the local Jewish community is coming together to raise money to help.

One local Jewish person has started a GoFundMe to replace the Qurans, raising over $5,000 in a day. The stated goal for the fundraiser is $14,400.

These attacks on Jewish and Muslim people are not isolated incidents. The Jewish Center in Tucson that was targeted last week was just one of over 100 Jewish institutions that have received bomb threats since January. President Donald Trump received criticism for not condemning these violent threats at first, but he eventually spoke against them in late February.

Jewish graves have also been desecrated across the country, with one Muslim group launching a fundraiser to repair some of the damage.

Jews are the leading target of hate crimes in the U.S., but Islamophobic rhetoric has spurred more incidents targeting Muslims. According to the FBI, hate crimes against Muslims increased by 67 percent in 2015 and, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of anti-Muslim hate groups in the U.S. tripled in 2016.

It is obviously distressing to see Muslims and Jews being targeted; the upside is that Muslims and Jews are supporting each other.

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