Muslim worshippers in a small town in Texas have been handed the keys to a synagogue by their Jewish neighbours after their only mosque was burned down.
The Victoria Islamic Centre was mysteriously destroyed in a fire earlier this week, several years after it had been burgled and vandalised, according to the New York Times.
The small muslim population of Victoria is being welcomed into the town's only synagogue to worship while their mosque is reconstructed.
Robert Loeb, the president of the Bnai Israel synagogue, Robert Loeb, told Forward: 'Everyone knows everybody, I know several members of the mosque, and we felt for them.
'When a calamity like this happens, we have to stand together. We have probably 25 to 30 Jewish people in Victoria, and they probably have 100 Muslims. We got a lot of building for a small amount of Jews,' he added.
One of the mosque's founders, Shahid Hashmi, told the NYT: 'Jewish community members walked into my home and gave me a key to the synagogue.'
The mosque – which was built in 2000 – will be reconstructed after an online fundraising campaign has raised over £700,000 for it to be rebuilt.
The GoFundMe campaign creator Omar Rachid added (via The Independent): 'Our hearts are filled with gratitude for the tremendous support we've received.
'The outpouring of love, kind words, hugs, helping hands and the financial contributions are examples of the true American spirit,' he continued.
The fire is reported to have occurred not long after US president Donald Trump announced his controversial immigration ban. He has suspended the entire US refugee admissions system for 120 days, and banned entry from seven majority-Muslim countries.
Naomi Gordon is news writer mainly covering entertainment news with a focus on celebrity interviews and television.
