U.S. Jewish Groups Refuse Aid to Evacuees, Aaron Klein (World News Daily)
Full Text;
Mainstream American Jewish organizations largely have refused to aid the thousands of Jews evacuated last summer from the Gaza Strip, the majority of whom are unemployed and have yet to find permanent housing…
Leaders from Gush Katif, the former Jewish communities of Gaza, said a series of direct petitions to significant U.S. Jewish organizations in recent months have been fruitless. They outlined a “humanitarian crisis” among the expellees.
“With few exceptions, we have received almost no help from the mainstream Jewish American groups, which grant billions of dollars” said Dror Vanunu, a former Gaza resident and the international coordinator for the Gush Katif Committee, a major charity organization representing the Gaza Jewish refugees.
Buddy Macy, former recording secretary of the Jewish Federation of Greater Clifton-Passaic recently sent this blog a copy of “Howard’s View” written by Howard Reiger of UJC/ federations with Macy’s own comments interspersed;
25 October, 2006;
“The IEC [Israel Emergency Campaign of UJC] work group also allocated $400,000 for trauma relief for those evacuated from the Gaza Strip during the disengagement, to help these Israelis adjust to new homes and communities and rebuild their lives. “
$400,000????? That amounts to about $1.00 per expellee per week!! Wait, it gets better – please keep reading]
“Federations have helped Gaza evacuees as well. The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago/Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago raised $300,000 to provide social services for Gaza evacuees in its Partnership 2000 region of Lachish/Safir, for example, while other communities such as the UJA-Federation of Northern New Jersey and United Jewish Communities of Metrowest, N.J. similarly stepped in.”
[What about national UJC???]
Following is another paragraph from the same edition of Howard’s View:
“At the height of the matsav, UJC/ federations raised $360 million for Israel through the Israel Emergency Campaign, which addressed many needs. During the last year we have been collecting about $2 million in remaining IEC commitments, and this past week our IEC Workgroup recommended distributions that will continue to make a difference for Israelis who have suffered.”
[If it was part of the emergency campaign, why was the money kept for up to a year in a money market account? If some of it had been distributed sooner, perhaps some of the “Israelis who have suffered,” would have suffered a little less! And, imagine if UJC had initiated a campaign that was dedicated exclusively to helping the expellees. How many millions do you think would have been raised for the “Israelis who have suffered?”]
******************************
I find the timing of the decision to allocate the whopping $400,000 to the expellees and the announcement of the allocation in Howard’s View to be quite interesting — the day after the launch of a grassroots campaign to help the suffering expellees! Actually, I find it more than interesting; I find it motivating and inspiring. I would like to think that the allocation was reported yesterday as a result of Mr. Rieger having read about the launch of the grassroots campaign the day before. Potential donors: If that is indeed the reason, please think about the effect it would have on Mr. Rieger and UJC if we raised $2,000,000!
I will be sending you my first campaign update this Tuesday, six days after the campaign’s radio/Internet radio launch (www.zoaphilly.org), and five days after its email launch. Buddy Macy