NEW YORK - Renewed ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan has led to what has been called one of the most severe refugee crises in the former Soviet Union since the collapse of Communism. Some New Yorkers are asking how they can help; others may be asking why they should help. Bill Farrell, of the humanitarian aid group Mercy Corps, says the turmoil in Kyrgyzstan has impacted a million people in the nation of 5.2 million. He believes Americans will be willing to reach out.
"If you're a New Yorker, you're an American; I have a strong sense that our compassion as Americans doesn't end at our borders."
According to Farrell, Mercy Corps has been operating in the country since 1994; it has a micro-finance company with 90 offices around Kyrgyzstan and, in the past year alone, reached a half-million people there with aid and support.
Janysh Osmon, a founder of Kyrgyz Club of New York City, estimates a couple thousand Kyrgyzstan expats live in New York State, mostly in and around New York City. He says help is needed for those suffering in his home country.
"Even five or ten dollars will eventually help. Whole cities have been shut down and they don't have electricity, water, food, and they need our help right now."
Osmon says donations can be made at the website www.KyrgyzClub.org, where much of the information is in Russian but English speakers can easily see how to contribute.
When asked why someone who may not know exactly where Kyrgyzstan is - let alone how to spell it - would be interested in helping out, Bill Farrell's answer is that the situation is compelling.
"A fifth of the country has been affected by this disaster. A large number of them are women and children. And, for an American or anyone else who has the wherewithal to provide resources, it's impossible to ignore that level of need."
Farrell notes in addition to Mercy Corps, there are many other organizations raising relief funds. He encourages people to first educate themselves about the situation.
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On Monday, Arizonans gathered at the State Capitol to honor the dead in the war between Israel and Hamas, and demand a halt to the killing.
Liz Hourican, one of the protest organizers, said the event was intended to call on Congress and policymakers to support a ceasefire, enable greater humanitarian access to Gaza and stop the use of American tax dollars for Israel to buy weapons that have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, including over 4,500 children.
Hourican said it's time to question what she calls the United States' "blind support of Israel."
"The 'security state' that we the taxpayer have long been paying for - and they have a special exemption, with regards to weapons and military funding, etc," she said. "We have to take a look at this, that we are all with blood on our hands as taxpayers."
The Biden administration supports a humanitarian pause in the conflict, but has not yet called for a ceasefire. Some lawmakers in Congress have sponsored efforts to put an end to hostilities in the region and send humanitarian aid to Gaza, but these have gained little traction. This comes as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk last week accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes.
Hourican argued it is unacceptable to think the four-hour daily "humanitarian pauses" Israel recently agreed to in northern Gaza are enough. The protesters said hospitals as well as places of worship shouldn't be caught in the cross-hairs of the conflict. Hourican added they don't think Congress should be funding efforts that put innocent lives in harm's way.
"We cannot pay for an outpost in the Middle East to harm Palestinians. They deserve respect and human rights. One word sums it up - 'equality' - but 'ceasefire' today," she said.
Islamophobia and anti-Semitism have increased across the U.S. since the war erupted. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy organization, received nearly 1,300 requests for help and reports of bias between early October and early November. In an average month last year, the group saw just over 400 complaints.
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One of the nation's largest labor unions has become the latest organization to demand a ceasefire in Gaza as Israel's war with Hamas plays out.
The American Postal Workers Union announced on Wednesday that its members are "shocked and saddened by the tragic and ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine." The statement condemned the Hamas violence of Oct. 7 but also said Israel's response "has made the prospects for peace more remote."
APWU Detroit local president Keith Combs said an estimated 4,000 children are among more than 10,000 deaths in the conflict so far.
"Israel has shut off the flow of food, water, fuel and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip, a war crime," he said. "A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding every day in Gaza. Thousands more innocent civilians stand to die - wholly preventable deaths."
The White House announced Thursday that Israel has agreed to a daily four-hour "humanitarian pause" from bombing Gaza to allow civilians to flee, but there's no word on whether those who leave will be allowed back in at a later date. The push for a longer pause came as part of President Joe Biden's renewed diplomatic push to free hostages taken by Hamas.
Combs said the union's position is that anything less than an immediate ceasefire, release of hostages and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza will not be enough.
"We call on our government - which is the primary foreign benefactor of the Israeli government - to use all its power to protect innocent lives," he said, "and to help bring about peace in the region, and not use our tax dollars for more war."
Other unions have also made statements regarding the violence in Gaza, including Starbucks Workers United, which posted a message of solidarity with Palestine on X, formerly Twitter, on Oct. 9. Starbucks executives sued the union in federal court to stop using the company's name and logo, as trademark infringement. The union has filed its own countersuit.
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Protests have heightened in New York as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joins the United Nations General Assembly today.
Sonya Meyerson-Knox, communications director for Jewish Voice for Peace, said it is important for protesters to not limit their objection to Netanyahu's far-right government, but also to what she calls "the apartheid."
"There is no place for the way that the Israeli state has been behaving," Meyerson-Knox asserted. "This is not how we want to see Palestinians treated, this is not how we want to see anyone treated. It's not one bad apple, it is not merely Netanyahu. It's this entire system of apartheid. Supremacy anywhere is a threat to everyone. And so, the way that the Israeli state has been enacting Jewish supremacy is, therefore, a problem."
Protests are ongoing in New York surrounding the U.N. General Assembly. There are also several protests in Israel.
Rabbi Josh Weinberg, vice president for Israel and Reform Zionism for the Union for Reform Judaism, said he has other reasons for protesting. He pointed out Israel's hard-right judicial overhaul has caused high-tech firms to pull their investments from the country. Weinberg added it has caused senior officers and pilots to question their commitment to be reserve officers because they do not trust the government.
"It's weakening Israel standing around the world, caused great instability," Weinberg contended. "And those who are in, for instance, the Boycott Divestment Sanctions Movement are seeing this as open fodder for them on Israel. Those who are accusing Israel of being an apartheid state, which I strongly contradict, will be hard to defend if certain members of Netanyahu's government get their way."
Guy Horowitz, an activist with UnXeptable, a pro-democracy American Israeli group opposing Israel's judicial overhaul, started planning the protests around Netanyahu's visit. Horowitz said it is important for the leadership in Israel to become less polarized.
"I'm pretty sure that every Palestinian understands that Israel is more risky and dangerous to the Palestinians well-being when 'haters' are at the helm," Horowitz argued. "There are talks about a potential accord with Saudi Arabia. Does Netanyahu have the mandate to sign, from the right side or from the left side?"
Horowitz is referring to Netanyahu's meeting Wednesday with President Joe Biden, after which they announced efforts to work together to cement diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
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