How One Woman Confronted the Greatest Humanitarian Crisis of Our Time

A former Board Member of the Lincoln Square BID and one of its founding members, Dr. Georgette Bennett has received honors for international diplomacy and humanitarian aid. Dr. Bennett is the founder of both the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding and the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees, an organization of more than 100 partner organizations that has accrued $12 million in grants, donations and investments that have yielded $170 million worth of Syrian aid. The daughter of Holocaust survivors and a Hungarian-born refugee, Dr. Bennett has been instrumental in forging unprecedented partnerships between Syrians and Israelis by providing direct humanitarian aid to hard-to-access parts of Syria.

Now, Dr. Bennett tells us why her family history and commitment to Jewish values led her to ignore those who argued that the Syrian refugee crisis was a problem for Arabs to solve themselves in her new book Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By: How One Woman Confronted the Greatest Humanitarian Crisis of Our Time.

Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By demonstrates how humanitarian diplomacy is already working in the region as well as Dr. Bennett’s insights and proposed solutions. Dr. Bennett’s book seeks to replace fear with facts in order to promote sensible and humane policies for refugees who truly cannot return home.

More details about author Dr. Georgette Bennett and the book can be found here. You can click here to order yourself a copy of Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By: How One Woman Confronted the Greatest Humanitarian Crisis of Our Time.

Photo credit: Dr. Georgette Bennett