Arthur George Weidenfeld, an English publisher, philanthropist, newspaper columnist, and Lord in the House of Peers, is financing an effort to rescue over 2,000 Christians in Iraq and Syria who are at-risk of being killed by the Islamic State.
Ninety-five-year-old Lord Weidenfeld was only 5 years old when he first arrived in Britain in 1938, having been rescued and evacuated to the U.K from Austria, his homeland, during the Holocaust. He was fed and clothed by Quakers and the Plymouth brethren along with other Christian denominations. Weidenfeld feels he now has a "debt to repay," according to an interview with The Times, a UK-based newspaper.
"I had a debt to repay. It applies to so many young people who were on the Kinderstransports. It was Quakers and other Christian denominations who brought those children to England. It was very high-minded operation and we Jews should also be thankful and do something for the endangered Christians," the 95-year-old explained to The Times.
Weidenfeld is now a millionaire publisher, owner of Weidenfeld and Nicolson publishing company, and has set up the Weidenfeld Safe Havens fund to fly Christians out of ISIS-dominated countries. Two weeks ago, 150 Syrian Christian refugees were flown to Poland, sponsored by the Weidenfeld fund. The project will finance refugees to fly out to a country for short term asylum of 12-18 months and help makes plans for possibly more long-term settlements.
The project has had difficulty garnering support from numerous countries, like the United States, according to The Express. The United States government declined participation because the project favors Christians, excluding other religious minorities like Yazidis and other Muslims, which is a criticism of this project. However, many Eastern European countries have opened up to provide asylum for the Christian refugees.
Lord Weidenfeld defends his fund's focus on specifically rescuing Christians by saying, "I can't save the world, but there is a very specific possibility on the Christian side. Let others do what they like for the Muslims."
Weidenfeld's hope is that his project will be as successful as that of Sir Nicholas Winton, a British humanitarian who rescued 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II.
