[OPE] Israel: let them eat fish

Why does the NGO Latet distribute food products? Isn't it better to invest
in providing "fishing rods" over the "fish"?
Answer: Israeli society is currently in a state of emergency in which
thousands of families are forced, daily, to deal with a shortage of food and
the inability to provide themselves and their children with ample nutrition.
Latet has decided to help families that live in such terrible need in order
to offer it relief wherever possible. At the same time, the Organization
also operates an educational project - "I am for You" - some of whose
objectives include empowering the weaker populations. The phenomenon of
poverty is so deep and broad nowadays, that we have no choice but to invest
both in physical support ("fish" - food) and in long term infrastructures
("fishing rods" - education).
http://www.latet.org.il/english/Index.asp?CategoryID=89&ArticleID=78

11/09/2009

NGOs: One out of every three Holocaust survivors lives in poverty

By Haaretz Service

One out of every three Israeli Holocaust survivors lives in poverty, aid
groups told Army Radio on Friday, adding that the financial crisis brought
with it a significant increase in appeals for aid.
A 74-year-old survivor, whose entire family perished on the Romanian-Russian
border, said that he felt he and fellow survivors were "forsaken in the most
shameful way here in Israel,"
"We never receive any money, and by the time we got some we were already
sick," he added. Aid organizations have reported a 30 percent increase in
appeals, at the same time that donations have all but dwindled out as a
result of the global financial crisis. Eran Weintrob, director of the
"Latet" NGO said that unless the government interferes, thousands will not
be able to celebrate the upcoming Jewish holidays. "They went through one
inferno, and I'm sad to say that there are going through another one today,"
Weintrob said. While the sight of elderly Holocaust survivors lining up for
food isn't a new phenomenon, aid groups said, the difference this year is
that "some of them will have to return to their homes empty handed."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1113991.html

10/12/2008

Charity: One in five Israelis on food aid has considered suicide

By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz correspondent and Haaretz Service

One in five Israelis living on food aid has considered suicide due to
economic hardship, according to an "alternative" poverty report published
Tuesday. The report, released by the charity Latet, came after one published
by the National Insurance Institute indicated that poverty had actually
declined in Israel for the first time in ten years. The charity reported
that poverty-stricken Israelis cannot afford to buy the minimal amount of
food purchases necessary for a healthy diet. Latet, which distributes food
to more than 100 charity groups serving needy Israelis, also stated that 80
percent of Israelis living on support provided by aid groups are below the
hunger line. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1045057.html

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Received on Sat Sep 12 07:27:57 2009