It is possible to mount an argument against Word Jewish Relief’s appeal to raise funds for Syrian refugees. WJR’s partner in the project is Save The Children, an NGO with a long and deplorable record of anti-Israel campaigning.
Any charity which links with Save The Children should have those links called into question. But — and it is a big but — such an argument is spectacularly misplaced in the context of one of the greatest refugee crises of modern times.
The imperative is to deliver humanitarian relief as quickly and as over as widespread an area as possible. The niceties of a charity’s politics are irrelevant in this instance. The priority is getting the job done. And since WJR is a world-leader in its field, if it considers it necessary to join forces with the Save The Children then its judgment should be heeded.
What will simply not stand up as an argument, however. is the idea that it is in some sense a mistake, or even wrong, for a Jewish charity to go out of its way to save Arab lives. As Ronen Shoval, the chairman of Im Tirtzu, put it: “A crying baby is a crying baby. It doesn’t matter if it’s Muslim, Christian or Jewish.”