A dramatic appeal to the Jews of Israel to open their homes to refugee immigrant children and offer them shelter during the cold and rainy season now starting here was made today by Social Welfare Minister Rabbi I.M. Lewin. The appeal stressed the fact that the children are living in appalling conditions which are bound to affect their health.
At least 6,000 children of school age need homes during the winter, it was revealed here today by the Jewish Agency, in connection with the approach of the rainy season. The first intense rainfall yesterday has affected adversely many immigrant camps in various parts of the country.
Eyewitness accounts of the havoc wrought by the rain flooding the camps present a gloomy picture. Despite specially-fitted double flaps, many tents were flooded and beds and other articles were scaked through. In one tent a father was seen holding aloft his two-year-old child as deep mud covered the floor space.
Reports in the press today depict how children in the flooded tents were standing barefooted yesterday because of the lack of footwear for them. Many parents are reluctant to part with their teen-age children who could receive hospitality in towns through the special campaign now being conducted by the Israel Government and the Jewish Agency among the urban population to secure shelter for children.
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