I think my head is going to explode!
Why do big news outlets like the Washington Post republish such biased news from lazy reporters?
Here is an article written by Jacob Wirtschafter for Religion News Service (whatever that is) and published at the Washington Post that leaves one very large piece of the story unreported. And, that is that HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), as one of nine major federal resettlement contractors, has a financial stake in the decision to admit large numbers of Syrian (mostly Muslim) refugees.
More than half of their $31 million dollar budget*** is from the federal government (you!) which pays them (BY THE HEAD) to resettle refugees.
They have every incentive to increase the number! HIAS doesn’t focus attention on persecuted Jews and Christians/other minorities as a first priority, they help bring Somali, Iraqi and soon Syrian Muslims to your towns and cities.
And, how dare CEO Mark Hetfield now feign concern for Israel when he has been bashing Israel for years over the illegal alien problem Israel has been trying to cope with! See here and here.
Here is the “news” about how happy Syrian Americans are that HIAS is helping get their people into America.
At the Washington Post:
LOS ANGELES — Advocates for Syrian refugee resettlement found unexpected allies as major Jewish groups have called on President Obama to open America’s gates to 100,000 asylum seekers from the war-torn Arab nation.
The American Jewish resettlement agency HIAS has launched a petition drive calling on Obama to resettle 100,000 Syrians in the U.S., and Reform rabbis pledged to make refugee assistance a key theme for High Holiday sermons and congregational activism.
Jewish American groups, saying they can’t be bystanders as the worst refugee crisis since World War II unfolds, are joining Arab-American leaders in a critique of existing policies, which have sharply limited the numbers of refugees settled in the United States.
The nerve of Hetfield now saying we should bring Syrian Muslims to America to ensure Israel’s safety! Why? Presumably just to pander to the American pro-Israel community when Hetfield has been a leading critic of Israel on the immigration issue urging them to let in more ‘refugees’ which anyone in their right mind knows will kill Israel.
HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield said the request for additional Syrian refugees is also a matter of ensuring Israel’s safety.
“The crisis in Syria threatens to destabilize Jordan, Lebanon, and perhaps even Turkey and Egypt,” he said. “This cannot be good for Israel.”
[….]
“HIAS has consistently called for more resettlement and pushed back against discriminatory rhetoric opposing the opening of doors to Syrian refugees,” said Omar Hossino, public relations director for the Syrian American Council in Washington, D.C.
It took 5 seconds to find this linking the Syrian American Council to the Muslim Brotherhood.
And, btw, HIAS was a leading activist group pushing the ‘Gang of Eight’ amnesty bill in the Senate (we have many posts on their lobbying activities on these pages over the years).
If the US brings in 100,000 Syrian Muslims as HIAS is demanding, they will be rolling in the green stuff! So come on lazy reporters, do your homework!
*** Have a look at the most recent Form 990 for HIAS (which re-branded itself and dropped the word Hebrew from its name awhile back). It is a $31 million dollar a year supposed ‘non-profit’ group that receives 55% of its funding from the US taxpayer. Federal grants total just over $16 million and that is to resettle refugees! And they receive other funds related to their refugee resettlement efforts including over $500,000 in processing fees for loans (refugee air fare loan collections).
Hetfield pulls down a salary (and related income) of just over $300,000 per year and there are 5 other employees in the six-figure range.
Go here to see if HIAS is working in your city.