Update on U.S. Cuts in Aid to Palestine
cuts to services and layoffs have begun
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Since the announcement last month that the U.S. Government planned to cut $200 million in aid to UNRWA, the United Nations’ agency dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees, and the news the following week of $25 million in cuts in direct aid to support hospitals affiliated with the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, we have been tracking the implications of those cuts on the institutions of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, particularly Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City and the Princess Basma Center for Disabled Children in East Jerusalem.
While in recent weeks many European Union countries, as well as Japan, China, and Qatar, among others, have stepped up by pledging to address the shortfall, the impacts of the cuts could have devastating impacts on all sectors of society. Many thousands of vulnerable Palestinians, including women and children -particularly those in Gaza - are already experiencing the effects of these sweeping cuts.
Ahli Arab Hospital, Gaza
By early October Ahli Arab Hospital (AAH) in Gaza felt the effects on two fronts: In addition to seeing monthly support from UNRWA drop from the contracted figure of $54,000 to a maximum of $14,000, a three-year, $900,000 joint project between AAH and USAID-funded agencies that subsidizes medical care to refugees was defunded. The elimination of two major funding sources at once has forced the reduction of direct services to patients and triggered staff lay-offs. The trickle-down effect of layoffs will seep into all levels of Gazan society and economic life.
Princess Basma Center, East Jerusalem
The Princess Basma Center, one of the few institutions to provide rehabilitation and medical treatment to children with disabilities and their families in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, was already on tenuous financial footing because of overdue payments from the Ministry of Health. The $25 million in cuts in aid to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network will compound its shortfalls and further impede the Center’s ability to provide critical services to children and their families. Particularly vulnerable is the service that provides newly-identified children and their mothers with an intensive two-week residential therapy program. As many as 500 children are in jeopardy of losing services if the funding shortfall is not addressed.
Your gifts provide critical support to the humanitarian organizations that serve Palestinians in need of medical care, rehabilitative services, and education. All of you who have visited the Diocese of Jerusalem provide people hope with your presence. Thank you for all you do. Please consider helping again with a recurring gift of any size. Your support is needed now more than ever.
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“If we don't act immediately and shift gears to find other means of support and subsidy to our affected diocesan institutions, I can't perceive how we can sustain and support them with the limited resources we have.
I am very much concerned and afraid that cutting off all American assistance, mostly in humanitarian aid, has hobbled the aid agencies that receive the funds, and more consequently, crippled the lives of Palestinians who continue to live in dire need and have fewer employment prospects now more than ever.
This is unfair and beneath our compassion.”
Archbishop Suheil Dawani
Diocese of Jerusalem
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Trustees’ visit to the Diocese of Jerusalem to offer first-hand experience with those we serve
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In early October, 12 AFEDJ trustees from across the U.S. will shake off their jet lag and converge on the guesthouse of St. George’s Cathedral in East Jerusalem. They will spend the next ten days visiting 11 schools, hospitals, and centers for children with disabilities in Palestine, Israel, and Jordan.
Cotty Peabody, a trustee from Arizona, said, in advance of the trip, “We make the effort to travel at our own expense to visit the people we serve because this becomes a shared experience to which we, as trustees, can all relate.
“When we talk about Princess Basma Center in East Jerusalem or Christ School in Nazareth, we can all remember the buildings and the classrooms but - most of all - the people who welcomed us and shared their gratitude for the support donors to AFEDJ provide."
The trustees will visit organizations in East Jerusalem, Nablus and Ramallah on the West Bank, Nazareth in Israel, as well as Zarka, Marka, Jofeh, and Salt in Jordan. A smaller group of trustees will visit the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza.
Peabody believes the value of the trustee visit extends beyond AFEDJ governance, “When the opportunity presents itself, we can now talk with confidence and with the emotions that can only be shared from our personal experience.”
John Lent, AFEDJ Executive Director, added, “We are grateful for the dedication and passion AFEDJ trustees bring to this work. We rely on their contributions and their willingness to share stories of the people whose lives are changed by the schools and hospitals are generous donors support.”
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News and events at St. George's College in Jerusalem
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It's not too early to think about upcoming programs from St. George's College
Holy Land and the Arts - October 3 - 14, 2019
Join us for the return of AFEDJ Trustee
Barbara Drake Boehm, the Paul and Jill Ruddock Senior Curator for The Cloisters of The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, to discover this on site discovery, in depth reflection and faith deepening journey through the eyes of an artist.
Women of the Bible: June 5 - June 12, 2020
Our Women of the Bible Course returns for a fifth time, dedicated to the ancient stories of women that tell of struggle, joy, and tragedy; but at the same time convey the compassion and love for God that we today experience in life. We will begin with women’s stories in Jerusalem and travel to the Galilee, Bethlehem, Jericho, the ancient city of Jaffa, and many more holy sites.
The course is a spiritual retreat where time will be spent in private reflection, journaling, as well as experiencing community fellowship in during our meals and daily worship.
For a full list of programs and courses offered at St. George's College, click
here
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Welcome to St. George's College new dean
This month St. George's College welcomes the Rev. Richard Sewell as its new dean.
Richard comes from the Diocese of Southwark, United Kingdom. He was ordained priest in 2003 and has served in parishes in the Diocese of Southwark throughout his ministry. He trained for ministry at SEITE now St Augustine’s College. He also studied Theology at the University of Birmingham, following which he worked at the Church of Scotland Hospice in Tiberias as a volunteer. For three years he initiated and oversaw an Inter-Faith Project in East London.
Most recently, Richard has been for the past seven years the Team Rector of Barnes Team Ministry in south London.
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Check out this new video featuring St. George's College
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American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem | 203-655-3575
| www.afedj.org
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