Letters
UJA’s broken moral compass
UJA Federation of New York’s $1 M gift for Gaza aid has rendered me speechless! I have not forgotten the atrocities of October 7, 2023, when Hamas waged war on Israel, and murdered, raped, shot, and incinerated our people. 251 men, women, elderly and children were taken into Gaza as hostages. I saw the 47-minute video that showed footage taken by the ProGo body cameras Hamas militants were wearing. “Innocent” Gazans were cheering and filming with their phones the hostages brought in to Gaza, hands zip-tied behind their backs, on motorcycles or in beds of pickup trucks, flanked by militants with long guns. Some hostages were kicked by the “innocent” Gazans. Many hostages were slaves in the homes of “innocent” Gazans.
When Prime Minister Netanyahu offered $5 million dollars and safe passage out of Gaza, for each hostage handed over by the Gazans; none were returned.
In 2005 Israel disengaged from Gaza, withdrawing all security forces and dismantling 21 Israeli settlements. The disengagement handed over control of the area to the Palestinian Authority for the sake of peace!
Israel has given humanitarian aid in the form of food to the “innocent” Gazans. Who gives the people they are at war with food and humanitarian aid? Who has helped Israel? Who has helped our hostages? We all saw the skeletal videos recently of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David. Our hostages who have been released speak of the scarce amount of food they lived on, and the dirty or salty water they received occasionally all while living in inhumanitarian conditions and tortured.
We did not start this war! Give Israel back its hostages!
The optics of this gift from UJA Federation NY shows them aligning with Hamas, and ignores Hamas’s role in the humanitarian crisis.
So UJA Federation, what should you have done with that million dollars? Given the money to Israel for its people whose homes were burned to the ground or destroyed due to the RPG damage caused by Hamas on October 7th, or given it to those still displaced from their homes in the North. That money could have helped those suffering from PTSD like Zaka volunteers, members of the IDF and civilians. That money could have helped the widows of IDF members murdered defending Israel.
UJA Federation of New York needs to stand with Israel and prioritize Israel’s needs. If I was a donor to THIS Federation I would pull my gift! I urge UJA New York donors to stand up for Israel and the humanitarian aid for OUR hostages who have been in captivity for 22 months in tunnels, cages and inhumane conditions.
UJA Federation of New York, your moral compass is totally broken!!!
Andrea G Bier
West Orange
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