(December 30, 2016) Jewish Federation of St. Louis joins with other Federations to provide support to the Aleppo Assistance Fund of the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief (JCDR) in the amount of $10,000 in response to the emergency refugee crisis in Aleppo. The JCDR is a collaboration of 20 Jewish organizations including the Jewish Federations of North America and our overseas partner, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (for more information, please see JDC.org/JCDR/Where-We-Work/Syrian-Refugees.html).
In Israel, in St. Louis and in Jewish communities throughout the world, indifference to the suffering of innocents is not an option. Aleppo, one of the world’s oldest cities and Syria’s largest metropolis, is synonymous with one of humanity’s cruelest conflicts – now surpassing the siege of Sarajevo as the deadliest and longest-running battle for a city in our time.
With an estimated 31,000 deaths, the battle for Aleppo has taken more than double the lives lost in Sarajevo. With total Syrian civilian deaths over the past five years reportedly totaling some 450,000, including 50,000 children, the latest atrocities in Aleppo write another dreadful lament in the 21st-century dirge of savagery and indifference.
The Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief provides an opportunity to respond to international crises through a Jewish lens. During the past three years, the coalition has provided nearly $2 million of humanitarian aid to Syrians, reaching hundreds of thousands of people including refugees and displaced persons with medical supplies and assistance, especially for women and children with severe medical conditions due to abuse, torture or mutilation, and worse.
Jewish Federation of St. Louis invites our community to join as a Jewish community in helping relieve the suffering of one of the most significant refugee crises since WWII. Please make your contribution to Donate.JUF.org/JFAleppo.