Warns About Real Agenda of “World Vision”
Dear Editor:
World Vision, a multi-billion-dollar international charity founded on evangelical-Christian principles, has made quite a few deals with the devil, as a new terror-funding scandal seems to implicate the organization every few years.
Last month, documents obtained from the U.S. Treasury via the Freedom of Information Act show World Vision used funds from the United Nations to bankroll the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA), a designated terror finance charity based in Sudan that raised millions for al-Qaeda. This news comes after revelations that World Vision provided U.S. taxpayer dollars to the al-Qaeda-linked group. Moreover, World Vision allegedly sought to strong-arm Treasury into allowing the ISRA project to continue, soliciting congressmen to intervene and threatening a lawsuit.
World Vision has a history of ignoring finance risks. In 2016, Mohammed El Halabi, head of World Vision’s Gaza operations, confessed to redirecting $50 million to the terrorist group Hamas. In 2012, World Vision diverted $1.68 million of Australian government aid to a fake Palestinian charity established by the PFLP terror group.
World Vision maintains a strong New York presence, where supporters have largely turned a blind eye to the group’s sinister activities. World Vision’s partners include three of New York’s biggest evangelical Churches: Redeemer, Hillsong and Times Square Church, along with local civil society and non-governmental groups including Operation Exodus, Crossroads Tabernacle Church, Real Life Church, South Bronx United, Manhattan Bible Church and Hope for New York.
Institutions reached for comment about World Vision’s record appeared indifferent or defensive. Local World Vision partners presented with information about these cases responded with silence or defensiveness.
One affiliate isolated the El Halabi scandal claiming their church would stand by World Vision because charges weren’t proven in court. Another church administrator said accusations were driven by an anti-Evangelical agenda.
But it was the evangelical World Magazine that disclosed World Vision’s year-long relationship with ISRA. Its author, Mindy Belz, is a well-regarded Christian journalist. An article written a month earlier in The Christian Post was co-authored by Middle East Forum researcher Clifford Smith, also an evangelical.
Pro-Israel Evangelicals should be troubled by ranking World Vision staffers anti-Israel stances and borderline anti-Semitic comments, like those of former International Operations Director Tom Getman who called Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah a “friend.”
World Vision’s defense raises more questions, with many claims difficult to verify. Financial reports are opaque. There’s little indication where donations are spent and annual reports seem irreconcilable with details made in statements. NGO Monitor called it a “multibillion-dollar NGO industry that remains largely unregulated and unexamined.”
New York Evangelicals resistance to the truth about World Vision is perplexing. The Jewish and Zionist community, on the other hand, knows where they stand.
Asked about the ISRA allegations, Ephraim Inbar, director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, commented: “we have the moral duty to demask organizations, such as World Vision, which are undermining Christian values, by spreading hatred and violence.”
Avi Posnick, of StandWithUs Northeast was appalled, noting, “World Vision donors and partners, including those in New York, should demand full transparency and accountability before continuing to support and work with this organization.”
This does not mean World Vision’s partners aren’t doing good work. Punishing kids in the Bronx isn’t the answer. World Vision Greater New York is a branch of World Vision USA, which maintains a degree of separation from World Vision International. But it is difficult to tell where one group ends and the other begins.
Sincerely
Karys Rhea
Golda’s Wisdom in Our Time
Dear Editor:
To paraphrase Golda Meir…”Peace will come when Rashida Tlaib learns to love her grandmother more than she hates Israel.”
Sincerely
Barry Shaw
International Public Diplomacy Director
Israel Institute for Strategic Studies
Jewish Teens Who Create Meaningful Change
Dear Editor:
On Monday, August 19th, 15 of the nation’s brightest young philanthropists were awarded $36,000 by the Helen Diller Family Foundation in recognition of their commitment to tikkun olam (repairing the world). At a luncheon held at San Francisco’s Four Seasons Hotel, these young leaders from across the United States, received the national 2019 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award, a prestigious honor given to youth leaders who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, community service and action.
Monday’s luncheon celebration was the culmination of a weekend-long series of business strategy workshops, networking and mentoring initiatives, during which award winners exchanged ideas with other socially conscious peers and interacted with Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award alumni from years past who are continuing their social justice work.
A highlight of the luncheon was a special documentary-style video that featured the accomplishments of all 15 teens in a behind-the-scenes chronicle of their leadership achievements. The video showcases each teen’s projects and illustrates an individual’s ability to empower youth, initiate dialogue and shatter stigmas.
The Helen Diller Family Foundation is gearing up to find the next set of teen changemakers and is now accepting nominations for the 2020 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. This call for nominations offers the opportunity for educators, civic leaders, and teen mentors to acknowledge Jewish teens who are actively working to create meaningful change in their communities, and the world. Please visit www.dillerteenawards.org/ to nominate a deserving young, Jewish teen today.
Sincerely
The 2019 Diller Teen
Tikkun Olam Awards
Questioning Dem Rule in Albany
Dear Editor:
If you needed any more evidence that one-party Democrat rule in Albany is a recipe for billions of dollars in new and burdensome taxes, Governor Cuomo reinforced it recently when he announced that the state will require millions of drivers to buy new license plates starting next year.
This is a regurgitation of the same, uninspired idea that Governor David Paterson proposed a decade ago, one that failed thanks to strong opposition from County Clerks and Republicans in the state Legislature. It’s also the latest example of Albany’s nickel-and-diming of hardworking middle-class taxpayers.
Add this to the $4.6 billion in taxes and fees imposed in this year’s budget by the Governor and the all-Democrat Legislature, and it all adds up to a death by a thousand cuts. New taxes on internet purchases and grocery bags. A new commuter tax. The elimination of the much-needed property tax rebate checks. And, now $25-$45 a pop for every vehicle New York families put on the road.
Enough is enough. It’s time to stop spending other people’s money so we can give New Yorkers the tax relief they need and deserve.
Sincerely
Republican Leader
John J. Flanagan
