Epigraph (Verses advising the Muslims to defend Synagogues):
Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged — and Allah indeed has power to help them — Those who have been driven out from their homes unjustly only because they said, ‘Our Lord is Allah’ — And if Allah did not repel some men by means of others, there would surely have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft commemorated. And Allah will surely help one who helps Him. Allah is indeed Powerful, Mighty. (Al Quran 22:38-39 / 39-40)
Philadelphia Police walk through Mount Carmel Cemetery, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, in Philadelphia. More than 100 headstones have been vandalized at the Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia, damage discovered less than a week after similar vandalism in Missouri, authorities said. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
By Luis Gomez; Contact Reporter
A Twitter user in the Chicago area with 11,000 followers who describes himself as a “Muslim Marine” said he is ready to “stand guard” at local synagogues or Jewish cemeteries amid a wave of threats afflicting the Jewish population in the United States.
I’m a #MuslimMarine in Chicagoland area. If your synagogue or Jewish cemetery needs someone to stand guard, count me in. Islam requires it.
— The Muslim Marine (@MuslimMarine) February 27, 2017
Marine veteran Tayyib Rashid publicized his offer using his Twitter account:
@MuslimMarine, on Monday after 23 Jewish Community Centers, eight Jewish day schools and even the San Francisco office of the Anti-Defamation League were subjected to some 30 ultimately unfounded bomb threats.
The Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla was among those evacuated on Monday. It was the third hoax to empty the building this year. On Tuesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-San Francisco, tweeted remarks calling the threats “reprehensible and disturbing.”
The threats of violence at Jewish centers, including one in La Jolla, are reprehensible and disturbing. This is not who we are as a nation.
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) February 28, 2017
A Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia also reported more than 100 headstones were vandalized over the weekend, similar to an incident that happened at a St. Louis cemetery one week before, the Associated Press reported.
News of the latest wave of bomb threats — five so far in January and February totaling 100 incidents in 33 states, according to the JCC Association of North America — troubled Jewish Americans and others. As investigators and others tried to figure out what is happening, Rashid’s tweet resonated among many.
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