UN/NGOs Fund Synagogue Building; Assumed It Was Mosque Bombed By Israel

International aid organizations cut checks totaling more than $30M.

Jerusalem, June 9 – A congregation that had struggled to meet its fundraising target toward a new facility now finds itself with an excess of money after repackaging its appeal as a plea to “help a house of worship with construction after Israel’s devastating bombardment in Gaza,” an ambiguous phrase that international organizations simply assumed referred to a bombed-out mosque in Gaza and sent generous amounts with characteristic lack of oversight.

Congregation Kol Rina of this city’s historic Nachlaot neighborhood has inhabited a communal bomb shelter for two decades, while dwindling membership has made any ambition to move to a more inviting facility less and less realistic. The situation persisted until an enterprising member of the synagogue board applied to United Nations organizations and other international agencies for help in funding the project, with phraseology and terminology that he knew the recipients, in their reflexive antisemitism, would a) understand as describing a cause-and-effect relationship between the recent Israel-Hamas war that never in fact existed, and therefore interpret the house of worship’s construction needs in the context of rebuilding Gaza, and b) fund the project with the customary uncritical auditing of resources that Hamas has exploited to invest in weaponry and tunnels instead of caring for Gaza’s civilian population.

“It shouldn’t have taken me so long to try it,” recalled the embarrassed board member, who requested anonymity. “We could have met our fundraising goals back in like 2009 if we’d thought of this sooner.”

UNESCO, UNRWA, and three international aid organizations cut checks totaling more than $30M to Kol Rina that will allow the synagogue to construct an opulent new building with a large main sanctuary, a catering hall with kitchen, a library, a beit midrash (study hall), several classrooms, office space, and playrooms for childcare during services. The monies will further suffice as an endowment to fund the salaries of full-time staff, including a Rabbi, several assistance Rabbis, secretaries, maintenance workers, catering personnel, and other management.

“We could never have done this on our own,” acknowledged longtime member and lay leader Dan Cohen. “As the neighborhood undergoes more and more gentrification, real estate prices have put our dream further and further out of reach – not to mention that most of the properties that could suit our needs have been snatched up. But this funding effectively renders money not an object in this regard, all because the UN and anti-Israel ‘human rights’ NGOs are so quick to read everything in the most negative anti-Israel light possible and act accordingly with reckless enthusiasm.”

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