Everyone’s favorite writer, JK Rowling, just helped triple the donations for a Muslim-supported crowdfunding campaign to repair the vandalized St. Louis-area Jewish cemetery. She did this all in a single tweet. Of course.
This past Wednesday, Rowling, the author of the iconic “Harry Potter” series, tweeted a link to an article about the campaign and posted the caption, “This is such a beautiful thing.” Naturally, the tweet garnered about 10,000 retweets and more than 30,000 likes.
This is such a beautiful thing.https://t.co/grBbo1hetz
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 21, 2017
As of Wednesday morning, the campaign, which was launched by Muslim activists Linda Sarsour and Tarek El-Messidi, had raised $66,000–which exceeded its original $20,000 goal when it was created on Tuesday afternoon. It proves how widespread the influence a public figure with a major following, like Rowling, can have with a simple tweet at the right time.
The incident itself happened on Monday morning when around 170 and 200 headstones were discovered to have been toppled over by vandals at the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in St. Louis. The attack itself could have taken place anytime between Friday night and Monday morning.
According to the organizers of the campaign, any remaining funds after the cemetery is restored will be used to restore other vandalized Jewish centers. They wrote on the page:
“Through this campaign, we hope to send a united message from the Jewish and Muslim communities that there is no place for this type of hate, desecration, and violence in America. We pray that this restores a sense of security and peace to the Jewish-American community who has undoubtedly been shaken by this event.”
Rowling’s tweet also spotlights the growing solidarity movement between Muslim and Jewish groups in America, around recent issues like the travel ban and the spike in hate crimes. Rowling’s activist-minded tweets echo the message of resistance and compassion she offers in the “Harry Potter” series. She’s practicing what she preaches, which is as good a lesson as any for kids and adults alike.
