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As Pittsburgh continues to live after a tragic weekend, a Muslim-led effort launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the victims of the Saturday synagogue shootings.
Published on LaunchGood, a crowdfunding site focused on Muslims, this effort aims to help meet the short-term needs of victims and their families by raising funds to cover medical expenses, funeral expenses and funeral expenses. Other expenses after the assault of an armed man at the Tree of Life Synagogue. killing 11 people and wounding 6 others before being captured by the police.
Fundraising has already been a success, with organizers claiming to have raised an average of $ 2,000 an hour since the launch of Saturday's effort. In six hours, the campaign had already reached its initial target of $ 25,000. In less than 24 hours he had broken $ 50,000.
Celebrate Mercy and MPower Change, two non-profit organizations run by Muslims, organized the fundraising in partnership with the Pittsburgh Islamic Center and the Tree of Life Synagogue, who will work together to distribute the funds to victims and their families. families.
Tarek El-Messidi, the founding director of CelebrateMercy, said the effort was part of her group's broader belief in reacting to hatred with acts of kindness.
"We recognize that money can not bring back loved ones who [families] have lost in a tragic way and can not physically heal any of the wounds, "El-Messidi told TIME. "But we hope the money will allow them, in a way, to relieve themselves, bear the burden of funeral expenses and medical expenses."
For Pittsburgh Muslims who are close to tragedy, it is simply a matter of helping neighbors and rebuilding their community.
"Those stolen by this hateful person were like family," said Wasi Mohamed, executive director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh and Emgage Pennsylvania, a nonprofit advocacy organization for Muslims. "We feel compelled to follow this prophetic tradition in defending the Jewish community."
"The Pittsburgh Muslim community sends our deepest condolences to the victims, their families and all our Jewish brothers and sisters," said the Pittsburgh Islamic Center in a statement. "We condemn this hate crime unequivocally and denounce all forms of hatred and fanaticism. The Pittsburgh community is our family. what happens to one of us is felt by us all. "
Mohamed added that local Muslims also pledged to support the Jewish community in a non-monetary way during this difficult period, offering grocery shopping tours, protection during services or help for others. needs.
For El-Messidi, the last few years have not been easy to become an American Muslim, which is one more reason to reach out to others in case of need.
"For a community that feels threatened to join another community that is also threatened … we hope this will inspire others in the country and around the world to engage in action. similar, "he said.
This latest fundraising is just the last of CelebrateMercy's outreach efforts, which they believe are inspired by the teachings and life of the Prophet Muhammad. After the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, the group organized a campaign for Muslims around the world to write letters of condolence to the family of deceased ambassador, Chris Stevens. In the end, they helped send 7,700 Muslim letters to 115 countries. The group also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the victims of the San Bernardino shootings in 2015 and the repair of vandalized Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia in 2017.
"If there is a glimmer of hope related to this tragedy, it is that [the Muslim and Jewish] Communities that have not worked so closely together engage in a dialogue, "El-Messidi said. "For the first time, they are able to put aside … geopolitics or international politics and work together for a human cause."
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