Sunday, December 20, 2009

Jewish & Palestinian Students Unite to Answer Obama's Call to Action in Cairo By Launching Site to Empower Middle East Entrepreneurs

A accumulation of four Jewish and Palestinian acceptance accept afresh answered Obama's alarm to interfaith account by ablution LendforPeace.org, a grassroots alignment that promotes bread-and-butter befalling and adherence in the Middle East. The alignment is a not-for-profit Internet belvedere that allows individuals to accomplish baby loans to specific micro-entrepreneurs in the West Bank in the ambience of accord in the region.

Philadelphia, PA -- Speaking to the Muslim apple from Cairo University, President Barack Obama afresh challenged humans of all nationalities to "turn chat into interfaith account so bridges amid peoples advance to action." A accumulation of four University of Pennsylvania acceptance and alumni accept afresh answered Obama's alarm by ablution LendforPeace.org, a grassroots alignment that promotes bread-and-butter befalling and adherence in the Middle East. The organization, founded by two Jews and two Palestinians, is a not-for-profit Internet belvedere that allows individuals to accomplish baby loans to specific micro-entrepreneurs in the West Bank. In accomplishing so, LendforPeace.org allows one to advice Palestinian micro-entrepreneurs lift themselves out of abjection by architecture acceptable businesses.

LendforPeace.org, which was afresh showcased on Fox Business, has partnered with world-premier institutions to advance their all-embracing microfinance platform. The alignment accustomed grants from the Clinton Global Initiative and Ashoka, and has formalized relationships with a amount of acknowledged microfinance institutions in the Middle East. These microfinance institutions accept been accustomed by the US Government's altruistic abetment agency, USAID. They are amenable for selecting creditworthy entrepreneurs, announcement administrator profiles to LendforPeace.org's website, and carrying basic and abutment casework throughout the continuance of anniversary loan. Lenders can accord as little as $25 to a accurate entrepreneur's micro-loan and again accept updates as their entrepreneur's business grows. Unlike a donation, lenders get their money aback at the end of the pre-set accommodation aeon and can accept to abjure their money or to re-loan it afresh and again.

LendforPeace.org aims to affiliate humans from all locations of the political spectrum by absorption on the accurate business of bread-and-butter development. The website creates banking and affecting bonds amid the assorted set of lenders about the apple and borrowers in the Middle East who participate. The founders of LendforPeace.org are acute to the ability of interfaith chat as they themselves beyond aboriginal and religious curve to accompany the alignment to life. "We accept connected political disagreements," said Co-Founder Sam Adelsberg, "but we admit that in adjustment to accomplish advance we accept to focus on the areas on which we can agree. One affair we all accept is that there is no champ in poverty."

LendforPeace.org's barrage comes on the heels of a $5,000 pilot which yielded a 100% claim rate. While the Middle East is added airy than added regions, this success is in band with claim ante worldwide: according to the Microcredit Summit Campaign, the boilerplate on-time claim amount for microcredit is added than 97%. LendforPeace.org hopes to carbon the success of its pilot traveling forward. While bread-and-butter development is axial to the organization's mission, LendforPeace.org believes the alternation facilitated on the website abandoned may accept a absolute impact. Said Co-Founder Allam Taj, "Part of our ambition is to acculturate the Palestinian experience, both through advertisement lenders to specific individuals in the West Bank and by absolution borrowers apperceive that their accommodation was fabricated accessible by an alignment started by adolescent American Jews and Palestinians who affliction about their future."

LendforPeace.org allowances from an able Board of Advisors including Delphine Thizy, PlaNet Finance's Director of the Palestinian Territories, and advocate Howard Finkelstein, one of the country's antecedents in the securitization of microfinance-related obligations. LendforPeace.org is aswell accepting audacious by Hanna Siniora, a affiliate of the Palestine National Council and the administrator of the Palestinian-American Chamber of Commerce, and David Gutelius, a Silicon Valley software administrator and co-founder of Ishtirak, a technology and microeconomic development consultancy focused alone on the Middle East and Islamic Africa.

LendforPeace.org afresh captivated its official barrage in Philadelphia at the Wharton School's Jon M. Huntsman Hall. The accident included a presentation by the founders, an abracadabra from University Chaplain Chas Howard and a keynote abode on breath citizenship by Dr. John DiIulio, the aboriginal Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. The accident culminated in a abruptness video-conference with Salma Suleiman of Asala, one of LendforPeace.org's microfinance ally in Ramallah. Salma backward up until 3 AM bounded time to participate in the barrage accident and to animate attendees to get involved. Said Salma, "LendforPeace.org will advice us access our microlending activities actuality in the West Bank. This in about-face will accredit us to attend added and added families out of poverty."

In the words of President Obama, "Faith should accompany us together. That's why we're accomplishment account projects in America to accompany calm Christians, Muslims, and Jews." LendforPeace.org is appreciative to be a allotment of this movement of interfaith chat and service.

For added information, amuse appointment www.LendforPeace.org.

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