US Muslims offer to guard Jewish sites following spate of attacks

A single tweet by an American Muslim marine who offered to stand guard at Jewish cemeteries following a wave of anti-Semitic attacks has sparked a wave of similar offers of solidarity on social media.

The offer by Tayyib Rashid, who calls himself "The Muslim Marine" on Twitter, followed a series of attacks against Jewish cemeteries and threats against synagogues, which some have linked to the embolding of far right movements since Donald Trump was elected president.

In the weeks following Trump’s inauguration, Jewish Community Centres (JCC) in the United States reported a spike in the number of anti-Semitic attacks and harassment across the country.

A number of Jewish organisations have also claimed that Trump has not been vocal enough in condemning anti-Semitism. 

Now, American Muslims on Twitter are offering to stand guard over Jewish sites in solidarity, and to help prevent further attacks. Rashid started off the stream of offers on social media, and received hordes of support for his "kindness".

Fellow Muslims followed suit offering their support, including Emmy Award-Winning TV broadcaster Momin Bhatti

Best-selling Harry Potter author JK Rowling also joined in the call to defend Jewish sites.

Many US Muslims posted their locations, offering to go to local Jewish cemeteries.

Others applauded the tweets and their message of unity.

And many were moved by this heartfelt show of solidarity.

Jewish Twitter users also appreciated the tweets and some, including this user, offered the same support in return.

But this isn't the first time American Muslims and Jews have united against racist attacks.

The latest offers of solidarity comes after US Muslims set up a fund earlier this year to raise money for Jewish cemeteries that had been vandalised, and within a week, raised almost $140,000.