Dr. Georgette Bennett, founder of Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees, is available for interview via Skype on Wednesday, August 31st
Press Release – (New York, NY – August 30, 2016) – The U.S. has reached its goal of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees five weeks early. While resettlement agencies work directly with refugees to find housing and work, the cultural integration comes from concerted community efforts. Civil society groups such as the nearly 70 faith-based and secular organizations that are part of the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees (MFA) – have an important role to play in welcoming refugees at all levels of society.
Dr. Georgette Bennett, founder of MFA the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, of which it is part, is the daughter of Holocaust survivors, arrived in the U.S. as a refugee, having escaped from Hungary to France, where she and her family lived for several years while awaiting their papers to enter America. On the passenger manifest for the ship that brought her and her family to America, their nationality was listed as “stateless.” For these reasons, Georgette is compelled to act in the face of the immense suffering of the Syrian people. In 2013, Dr. Bennett founded MFA, utilizing the moral authority of religious leaders to mobilize support for alleviating the suffering of Syria’s war victims. Throughout the years of her interreligious activities, Dr. Bennett has been honored by: the New York Board of Rabbis, Auburn Seminary, International Council of Christians and Jews, Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding and The Distinguished Service Award from the New York City Comptroller’s office, among many other awards.
