Ten years ago I received a phone call that changed my life. Gerri Trooskin, the director of our city-wide book club, One Book, One Philadelphia, called me with an unusual request. She asked me to choose ten of my Drexel University undergraduate creative writing students to interview ten Sudanese refugees. These interviews would be serialized…
The number of wild animals living on Earth is set to fall by two-thirds by 2020, according to a new report, part of a mass extinction that is destroying the natural world upon which humanity depends. The report was compiled by the World Wildlife Federation and the London Zoological Society, and shows that destruction of…
Over the past seven weeks, the British Jewish community raised £200,000 ($260,000) for the resettlement of 100 unaccompanied children from the Calais refugee camp here in the UK. The campaign was initiated by a group of leaders from Masorti (Conservative) communities in and around London, who came together in the early summer to try and…
— A letter signed by 43 rabbis in Texas called on the state’s Gov. Greg Abbott to remain in the United States refugee resettlement program. “At this moment, with the number of refugees and displaced persons at its highest in recorded history, it is more important than ever for Texas to protect and welcome refugees,”…
Donald Trump’s family is like a box of chocolates: You never know what you’re going to get, but — with apologies to Forrest Gump — you could be in for an unpleasant surprise. The outside looks awesome, but what you find below the surface might make you sick. Especially if, like me, you’re allergic to…
— Some 184 Jewish congregations and communities in the U.S. signed a pledge of support for refugees, promising to take action to help those seeking shelter in the country. The “Welcome Campaign” is being organized by the refugee support and advocacy group HIAS (formerly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), which was founded in 1881 to help Jewish immigrants fleeing pogroms in…
A small Yazidi community in Canada is teaming up with local Jewish organizations to help refugees running from ISIS find new homes. With an initial goal of raising $34,000 to sponsor one refugee family, activists and community members in Winnipeg, Canada raised $250,000 to help 7 Yazidi families with a total of 42 people settle…
At Piraeus, the port of Athens, every day as the clock in a nearby watchtower strikes 2 pm, a carillon plays the theme from the movie classic, “Zorba the Greek.” Down below luxury liners, having just plied the Aegean, enter their slips and disgorge sun-sated, archeologically enriched tourists, some having just completed a trip of…
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