NEW YORK — Like many other charitable groups, the American Jewish World Service is collecting money to benefit the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks on America.
But in addition to helping those hurt by terrorism, the New York-based humanitarian group is also concerned about the safety and security of some of the impoverished residents of Afghanistan, a country known to harbor terrorists.
Since 1999, the AJWS has been one of a handful of American groups funding more than 30 secret schools for girls and women in Afghanistan. The fundamentalist Islamic Taliban, which has ruled the country since 1996, prohibits girls from attending school and does not allow women to work.
The AJWS — which supports anti-poverty and community project in developing nations — is believed to be the only Jewish organization that funds such programs in Afghanistan.
Ruth Messinger, AJWS president, said that in a U.S. war in Afghanistan, “the worst victims would be the people who we are helping, who are already victims of the Taliban.”
The women who teach in the underground schools do so at great personal risk, potentially subject to the death penalty if caught. They teach in private homes and assign girls different times to enter and leave so as not to draw attention.
Because of the longtime dangers of working in Afghanistan, the AJWS has never sent its own volunteers or staff there, although it does to most countries it assists. Instead, it works through a Western human rights organization whose identity cannot be disclosed for fear of repercussions from the Taliban.
The AJWS contributes approximately $100,000 a year to the schools, which serve over 1,000 girls. It also provides some funding for health programs for Afghan women, and some aid for Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
But as more and more Afghans and aid workers flee the country, the programs’ future is uncertain. And the AJWS is expecting a heightened request for aid from the refugees in Pakistan.
Schools in the greatest jeopardy right now are those in and near Kabul, which is likely to be targeted for U.S. attacks, said Catherine Shimony, the AJWS’ director of international programs.
Already, an Afghan woman who lives in Pakistan near the refugee camps and usually travels several times a year to the United States to give updates about the schools had to cancel a planned visit to New York.
As the confrontation with Afghanistan heats up, the AJWS is not sure whether to take a specific position on how the United States should react to the terrorist attacks, or simply keep trying to support the schools, Messinger said.
However, she will continue to urge Americans to step up grassroots, anti-poverty assistance to troubled countries as a way of “improving our international position.”
“It’s always better to wage peace than to wage war,” she said.