Georgette F. Bennett Ph.D. - Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By: How One Woman Confronted the Greatest Humanitarian Crisis of Our Time

Advance Praise for
Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By

Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By is the story of one of the most important and improbable humanitarian initiatives of our time. In turn inspiring, heartbreaking, and exhilarating, this book is above all a testament to how a few determined people can change one tortured corner of the world. Anyone concerned with the future of the Middle Eastwith the future of humanityshould read this powerful book.

Yossi Klein Halevi , Senior Fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute, Author, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor

Georgette Bennett is not one to stand idly by, and when confronted with the Syrian refugee crisis of historic proportions, she dove in to find a way to help. She never took no for an answer, pulled out all the stops to corral governments, armies, organizations, and civil society to stop their real wars and their turf wars to cooperate, at least in the crevices, to help people most in need on a huge scale, and in doing so building new relations across long-time enemies. This is humanitarian diplomacy at its best, engineered by a civilian Jewish woman of conviction in a region where any or all of those can get you in huge trouble. Not only is the blow by blow riveting, but here is a story to inspire all of us to use what we have at our disposal to help each other as humans, and to get past the rigidities which have left way too many as collateral damage.

Anthony Marx , President and CEO, New York Public Library

Georgette Bennett has turned her life story into a force for humanity. When she sees suffering, she takes personal and moral responsibility to do something about it. The Syria war is a stain on humanity and this book shows what it means to stand by Syrians suffering at the hands of their own government. The world needs more people like Georgette Bennett.

David Miliband , President, International Rescue Committee and former UK Foreign Secretary

Georgette Bennett is truly one of our better angels, caretaking all of us by caretaking those most in need: Syrian refugees. A child of the Holocaust, she is also the woman who established the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian refugees. Refugees everywhere need everyones help all over the world and Georgette Bennett is on the front lines of it all. We owe her a debt of gratitude.

Mandy Patinkin , Actor, Activist on behalf of refugees

This remarkable book is a testament to three things: first, the inhumanity that persists in the world, seen in the brutal treatment by the Syrian regime of millions of its own people. Second, the painstaking, behind-the-scenes and largely thankless work that goes into trying to help those suffering on a massive scale. And third, the difference that one person can make. Its the story of Georgette Bennett, private citizen with a steely determination to come to their rescue, who found the unlikeliest of benefactors, and to this day, simply refuses to give up.

Judy Woodruff , Anchor and Managing Editor, The PBS NewsHour

Blessed are the peacemakers and blessed is Georgette Bennett. In this fascinating and well-written book she describes her dogged efforts to help those devastated by conflict and search for ways to bring people of differing faiths together. The stories she tells are an important reminder that we could all do more to try to make the world a better place.

Fareed Zakaria , Host, CNN GPS

A WICKED SON BOOK

An Imprint of Post Hill Press

ISBN: 978-1-64293-611-7

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-64293-612-4

Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By:

How One Woman Confronted the Greatest Humanitarian Crisis of Our Time

2021 by Georgette F. Bennett, Ph.D.

All Rights Reserved

Cover Design by Tiffani Shea

Interior design and composition, Greg Johnson, Textbook Perfect

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Post Hill Press

New York Nashville

posthillpress.com

Published in the United States of America

To my husband, Dr. Leonard Polonsky CBE,
who makes all dreams come true
and enabled me to pursue the dream
that resulted in this book.

Contents

E xcept for those times when the lifeless body of a toddler washes up on shore or when a camera captures a pair of traumatized children huddled together, the Syrian crisis slips out of public consciousness. But I could have been one of those children had my Syrian grandfather not brought my father to the US one hundred years ago to escape starvation. Ever since then, my family and I have felt unbounded gratitude for having been embraced by this country and spared the fate of our countrymen. Yet, I feel searing pain for the immeasurable suffering of our relatives still in Syria, whose lives hang in the balance.

When Georgette Bennett reached out to me, she gave me a way to get past my helplessness. I made a commitment to be the human face and voice for the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees, which she founded in 2013. I joined Georgette on her journey from bystander to activist on behalf of my people. That journey is described in this book, which brings to the fore the oft-forgotten people of Syria and the confluence of forces that brought them to this moment.

The Syrian crisis is the worst humanitarian tragedy of our time. Millions of decent, skilled, and educated people have fled their homes with nothing. In todays environment of fear, xenophobia, and Islamophobia, they are almost without hope. Because of my background, this is a very personal issue for me.

The journey began with Georgettes own background as a child of the Holocaust, a refugee, and a Jew.

When Georgette read a report on the Syrian crisis issued by the International Rescue Committee, she was struck by the parallels between her beginnings in war-torn Budapest and the devastation in Syria. The Hebrew scriptures make no fewer than thirty-six references to caring for the stranger. She felt commanded to do so and founded the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees. What began with a report resulted in nearly $200 million in aid being delivered to more than 2.2 million (and counting) Syrian war victims. Im proud to be a part of that effort.

But this is more than a feel-good story of humanitarian activism. It is an expos of how geopolitics makes pawns out of suffering human beingsin this case the 13 million displaced Syrians whose lives are being stolen from them.

As a Syrian American, I wish my community would do more to tell the world who they arenot only to share their contributions but to counter the phobic backlash against them. I dont think they are doing enough. Its time to speak out, and Georgette does that for them.

Im extremely patriotic, but that doesnt mean I have to accept all the policies of my country. I have a right to criticize, and one of my criticisms is this: we seem to have lost the sensitivity and compassion that is a hallmark of America, a beacon. I dont see much of that lately. I see a lot of fear. Of course, thats not true only for the US. As this book shows, hearts and borders are closed to displaced Syrians in many countries. But the US needs to be the catalyst that moves other countries to do the right thing.

It seems to me that those who would lead by fear believe that the hearts and minds of good people can be closed to those who cry out for help. Thats not who Americans are. Thats not the country to which my grandfather fled for a better life, or the country for which my father worked so hard and sacrificed his two sons in the US military. America is the country that gave them hope and opportunity. We must not let our fears define us. This book powerfully addresses those fears.