MUSLIM COMMUNITY RAISES THOUSANDS TO REPAIR VANDALIZED JEWISH CEMETERY

Robert Cohen/AP

On Tuesday, Muslim American activists Linda Sarsour and Tarek El-Messidi launched an online fundraiser to help repair a Jewish cemetery that was vandalized this week in St. Louis, Missouri.  The LaunchGood fundraiser, “Muslims Unite to Repair Jewish Cemetery,” has raised over $80,000 within 24 hours, which is four times the projected goal of $20,000 by the end of March.  The fundraiser page promoted a message of unity: “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.”

On Monday morning, St. Louis police responded to a report of the Chesed Shel Emeth Society cemetery being vandalized and found over 170 of the headstones destroyed.  Phillip Weiss, the owner of a monument company helping to fix the cemetery said, "A lot of people are coming out—they're just interested to see, 'Was their loved one's monument affected by this?'”

Police are currently investigating security footage from the cemetery, but have turned up nothing solid yet.

Robert Cohen/AP

Recently, there have been bomb threats to various Jewish community centers throughout the U.S., for which Muslim Americans have offered aid.  One Muslim American civil rights organization, The Council on American-Islamic Relations, offered a $5,000 reward for any information to help find the people behind the false bomb threats.

The Muslim Americans’ support of the Jewish community is in direct opposition to Rick Santorum’s comments to CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Tuesday: "If you look at the fact, the people who are responsible for a lot of this anti-Semitism that we're seeing, I hate to say it, a lot of it is coming from the pro-Palestinian or Muslim communities."

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HGTV’S “FLIP OR FLOP” COUPLE SEPARATE FOLLOWING POLICE AND GUNS INCIDENT

HGTV

Tarek and Christina El Moussa, the husband and wife duo of HGTV channel’s Flip or Flop, have separated six months after police were called to the couple’s home on suspicion of a “possibly suicidal man” back in May.  When authorities arrived at the El Moussa house, a “crying and shaking” Christina told police that her husband Tarek had put a handgun in his backpack then ran from the house.  Upon discovery that Tarek was walking around a nearby state park with a loaded weapon, the local sheriff’s helicopter searched for him.  Tarek was located by authorities, and did not resist when they brought him back to his home.

Despite the report of a “suicidal” man, both Christina and Tarek insisted he was not a danger to himself.  An incident report stated: “Tarek did not make any threatening statements to [Christina] and he did not make any comments about hurting himself or anyone else.  She also denied that Tarek had ever been suicidal.”  Tarek claimed he left the house in a rush to “blow off some steam” and brought the gun as protection from “mountain lions and rattlesnakes.”  No charges were filed, but authorities confiscated five guns, including an AR-15 rifle, from the El Moussa home for 30 days.

This intense incident proved to be too much for the Flip or Flop couple.  Even after they attended marriage counseling following the incident, Christina and Tarek sadly could not make things work.  The pair, who were married in 2009 and have two children, have officially separated to “evaluate the future” of their marriage.  They told E! News: “Like many couples, we have had challenges in our marriage.  We had an unfortunate misunderstanding about six months ago and the police were called to our house in an abundance of caution.  There was no violence and no charges were filed.”

HGTV said the El Moussa marriage troubles do not mean the end of Flip or Flop.  The show plans to continue production, with Christina and Tarek working together professionally.

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COULD "SOCK COPS" SPARK A CITY WIDE MOVEMENT THIS HOLIDAY SEASON?

sockitforward.com

In a city where the kind and caring gestures of people let alone the NYPD are rarely captured on camera, one New Yorker stumbled upon a touching scene in the New York City subway and shared the moment on Facebook.  On Friday, Joshua Lagan told the touching story of two police officers doing a good Christmas deed for a homeless man.  Lagan was waiting for his train at Grand Central station when he noticed a commotion.  Two police officers ran over to a homeless man when he started rummaging through the trashcan.  One of the officers took the homeless man (and Lagan) by surprise when he asked, “What are you collecting cans for?”  The homeless man took a moment to respond, “Socks.  I want socks.”  What happened next will bring a tear to your eye!

Lagan wrote, “Without hesitation, the Cop put his arm on his shoulder and smiling said ‘I’ll buy you socks. It’s Christmas soon right? I’ll buy you socks for Christmas. Merry Christmas’ he said smiling broadly. ‘Let’s go to the store.’ The homeless man was so shocked he just kept stammering, ‘are you serious?’ ‘Are you serious?’”

Lagan snapped a photo of the exchange:

Joshua Lagan/Facebook

Lagan continued, “I don’t share this to make a statement about homeless people, or cops, or politics. I share this because of love. I saw someone treat someone with love today, and it reminded me of the love that we need to show for us to overcome all of the hate we're seeing in the news these days.  It was a small gesture, but I saw a man regardless of color or uniform show compassion for another person. How often do we miss opportunities to do that?”

You can read Lagan’s whole moving story here.

There is nothing like a selfless act of kindness to inspire others and get you in the holiday spirit!  Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest difference.

This season in addition to the red wine and fruitcake how about donating on behalf of a loved one, to these charities that provide SOCKS for the homeless?

The Joy of Sox

The Joy of Sox Facebook Page

Bridging the Gap NY

Comfort Socks for the Homeless

Ya Know You Wanna!