Source: Huffington Post

By Carol Kuruvilla, who is an Associate Editor of HuffPost Religion. Prior to joining The Huffington Post, Carol was a reporter at the New York Daily News

“We will show up, stand up, and stand against any hateful act in our community.”

An attempt to spread Islamophobia through an Ohio neighborhood backfired last weekend, resulting instead in numerous acts of love and solidarity.

Ohioans have been rallying around Rawd Saleh, a 41-year-old mother of three from Mason, Ohio. Saleh came home from a weekend away to find out that flyers had been posted in houses in her neighborhood that falsely accused her family of having ties to terrorism. The anonymous “neighborhood terrorist warning” had Saleh’s name, address, photo, and even a map showing exactly where her house was located.

awd Saleh speaks at a rally in front of the Mason Community Center. The Muslim Times has the best collection of articles to refute Islamophobia

“It was an awful feeling for me, to know that someone out there thinks that my life and my children’s lives are not valuable at all, someone who would put my name and address out there for anyone who could possibly want to hurt us,” Saleh, who has lived in America for 35 years, told The Huffington Post.

But Saleh soon learned that this wasn’t a fight she would have to face alone. When Saleh’s neighbors found the notes in their mailboxes, they leapt into action ― alerting the police and reassuring Saleh’s family that they supported her and her kids.

Saleh told The Huffington Post that the neighbors have even pointed security cameras in the direction of her house in case anything suspicious were to happen.

“They reassured me that they were here for me and for my children,” Saleh said. “And that we’re in this together.”

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