Tagged Haiti

Op-Ed: American Jews must speak out for Haitians in Dominican Republic

Activists demonstrating in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the estimated 20,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent who were stripped of their citizenship and are facing expulsion, June 22, 2015. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
July 29, 2015 / Ruth W. Messinger, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — Fewer than 800 miles from our shores, a deeply disturbing crisis is unfolding as tens of thousands of citizens of the Dominican Republic face deportation from their country simply because of their heritage. Tragically, people of Haitian descent who were born in the Dominican Republic… Read more »

Three years on, Jewish groups winding down Haiti operations
December 10, 2012 / Gil Shefler, JTA
Schoolchildren from the Haitian town of Zoranje standing outside their middle school that was built by the JDC. (Courtesy American Joint Distribution Committee)

NEW YORK (JTA) — It was the poor construction. There had been many earthquakes more powerful than the one that hit Haiti nearly three years ago, and there have been many more since. But few have been deadlier. When the tremor registering 7.0 on the Richter scale struck on… Read more »

Op-Ed: Holidays remind us of what we still need to do in Haiti
September 1, 2010 / Ruth Messinger, JTA
American Jewish World Servce President Ruth Messinger, shown here on a visit to Chad, says it's time to step up what we're doing in Haiti (Mia Farrow)

NEW YORK (JTA) — On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, many of us are haunted by the ubiquitous liturgical refrain asking “Who shall live and who shall die?” As I sit in synagogue and hear these words chanted over and over again, I can’t help but question whether the… Read more »

Tucsonan assesses impact of Jewish aid in Haiti
August 20, 2010 / Sheila Wilensky, AJP Assistant Editor
Tucsonan Fran Katz, right, and Kim Rosenberg of Portland, Ore., haul rubble during a Jewish Federations of North America fact-finding mission to Haiti.

Tucsonan Fran Katz joined a national Jewish Federation of North America fact-finding tour to Haiti, from July 5 to 7, to see firsthand how American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee funds have aided Haitians since the January earthquake, which killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced more than 1.2 million.… Read more »

U.S. Communities are building ties to Haiti
May 6, 2010 / Larry Luxner/JTA

 PETIT-GOAVE, Haiti (JTA) — Not a single Jew lives among the 170,000 inhabitants of Petit-Goâve, nor among the 20,000 refugees from Port-au-Prince who have crowded into this town since a magnitude-7.0 earthquake leveled Haiti’s capital in January.  But Jews are among those helping bring Petit-Goâve back to life.  “After… Read more »

Israelis maintain presence in Haiti for the long haul
May 4, 2010 / Larry Luxner

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (JTA) — Amir Kashi, a 34-year-old social worker from Ma’ale Adumim, and Yehonatan Abraham, a 30-year-old medic from Beersheva, knew nothing about Haiti before the earthquake in January.  But both Israelis felt compelled to act after the disaster struck.  “I felt impotent in Israel, sitting in front… Read more »