A synagogue in Texas has been offered for use by the Muslim community after the local mosque burned down last weekend.
In a gesture of solidarity, shared occupancy of the synagogue in Victoria was offered to Shahid Hashmi, one of the founder members of the mosque. “Jewish community members walked into my home and gave me the keys to the synagogue,” he told the New York Times.
Robert Loeb, president of Bnai Israel in Victoria, said the local community was united in shock at the mosque fire. “Everyone knows everybody, I know several members of the mosque and we felt for them,” he told Forward news.
Gary Branfman, also a Bnai Israel member, told the local Victoria Advocate: “When our peaceful norm is interrupted like this I think it unites the community.”
On Saturday night, fire destroyed the Islamic centre in Victoria, which has a population of about 65,000. In the last three days a GoFundMe page has raised over $1 million (£793,000) towards rebuilding the mosque, with more than 21,000 people contributing in an outpouring of interfaith support.
“Our faith in humanity has been rekindled again,” said the mosque on its Facebook page.
The fire occurred hours after President Donald Trump announced his executive order banning entry to the United States to people from seven majority-Muslim countries.
The cause of the fire is being investigated but the Texas office of the Council on American-Islamic relations urged investigators to “keep the possibility of a bias motive for this fire in mind,” reminding them of the “growing anti-Muslim bigotry in our nation”.
A number of churches in Victoria are also reported to have offered the use of their buildings.
