Keith Ellison, the first Muslim ever elected to the U.S. Congress, sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday, requesting an investigation into the desecration of a Jewish cemetery as a hate crime.
Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota who took office in 2007, has become a powerful voice for the American left. He was even a close contender to become chair of his party.
But Ellison has, predictably, often been accused of being "anti-Semitic." This is of course, because he is a Muslim and also not always 100 percent behind the actions of Israel.
"If you’re a Muslim in [U.S.] politics, you’re operating under a constant and inherent initial skepticism," Faiz Shakir, a senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, told VOX. “That’s what Keith is dealing with now: the Islamophobia that puts Muslims in public life under suspicion without cause."
Despite the fact that Ellison was an early supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders – the lone Jew running for the presidency during the recent election – his critics haven't been silenced. Of course, even as a Jew, Sanders himself is sometimes accused of being an anti-Semite (never mind that his family personally suffered significantly in the Holocaust).
But, Ellison's letter to the Justice Department, at the very least, should give his critics pause.
Ellison tweeted a copy of the letter, addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions
In the wake of President Donald Trump's xenophobic and racist rhetoric, White supremacists have been emboldened in the U.S.
Hate crimes against Jews and Muslims have been on the rise before and after the election. A string of threats and attacks against Jewish cultural sites in the country is the impetus behind Ellison's letter.
And Ellison isn't the only prominent Muslim showing solidarity with American Jews.
Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian activist and executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, together with Tarek El-Messidi, founder of the Islamic non-profit CelebrateMercy, launched a crowdfunding campaign to help raise money to repair the same vandalized Jewish cemetery in Missouri.
The LaunchGood campaign saw an outpouring of support from the community, raising its $20,000 goal in less than two hours.
The campaign ultimately saw a spike in its funds after J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, shared an article linking to the crowdfunding campaign on her Twitter account. The campaign has since raised more than $150,000.
"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," the campaign page says. "We pray that this restores a sense of security and peace to the Jewish-American community who has undoubtedly been shaken by this event."
With Trump's presidency, Muslims and Jews in the U.S. are seeing more than ever the importance of solidarity. Jewish groups have thrown their support behind protests against Trump's attempted Muslim ban.
These acts of solidarity counter the stereotypical narrative of animosity between the two communities.