Muslim-Led Fundraiser to Help Repair Vandalized Jewish Cemetery

After an anti-Semitic attack on a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis, Muslim activists helped to raise tens of thousands of dollars to help repair the vandalism. Steve Inskeep reports.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Now we have a story about one religious group helping another. Yesterday, workers started righting headstones at a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis. As many as 200 were vandalized there over the weekend, an attack that prompted some Muslim activists to help out online.

LINDA SARSOUR: We actually met our goal of $20,000 within three hours. And now we are at over 1,500 donors, majority of whom are from the Muslim community across this country.

INSKEEP: That's Linda Sarsour. She and a fellow activist started the fundraising effort for the cemetery yesterday. The vandalism comes as dozens of Jewish community centers nationwide have received bomb threats since January. Yesterday, President Trump denounced anti-Semitic actions like that. He'd been facing public pressure to do so after turning aside previous questions about it. Sarsour says American Jews have the support of American Muslims.