Soccer Dad

Profile of an international first responder

Israel's recent aid to the earthquake ravaged country of Haiti has once again made people focus on Israel's humanitarian missions. But Israel's aid to Haiti isn't an isolated incident it is part of ongoing series of humanitarian missions carried out by the Jewish State.

August 1998 - Israel teams help rescue and recover victims from the US embassy bombing in Kenya.

They honed their skills after earthquakes in Mexico and Armenia, bombs in Argentina and Scud missile attacks at home in Israel. Now world experts at rescuing the living from rubble and recovering the dead, Israeli soldiers are running a round-the-clock effort to dig Kenyans out of the ruins left by a terrorist bomb.

"You are heroes," a Red Cross volunteer shouted at the Israelis on Sunday.

"We are not heroes. We are only working," Maj. Ofer Pomeranz answered with a modest shrug.

"Yes, but you know what you are doing," she said.

Israeli know-how is saving lives--at least three since the team arrived Saturday afternoon. In turn, the operation in Kenya is boosting Israel's prestige and earning goodwill toward the Jewish state at a time when much of the world is blaming it for the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

December 1998 - Israel sends aid to Central America in the aftermath of Hurrican Mitch.

1. The MASHAV relief mission which provided medical assistance to the victims of Hurricane "Mitch" operated in Honduras and Nicaragua between November 10 and 26, 1998.

2. The relief mission, composed of 10 people (9 doctors and a nurse), was split up into sub-groups. Use was made of medical equipment flown in from Israel, in addition to local equipment.

3. A large quantity of medical equipment was flown in to Guatemala, San Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. This included first aid materials, antibiotics, transfusions, pain killers and other materials. In addition, the medical teams made use of extra equipment which they brought with them in their personal baggage.

4. At the same time, an Israeli expert provided epidemiological advice (infectious diseases) to the Dominican Republic.

August 1999 - Israel sends 50 tons of supplies and sends rescue teams to Turkey after an earthquake. Their efforts included this miracle.

(Jerusalem Post, August 22) - Defying all odds, the Israeli rescue team in Cinarcik early yesterday rescued nine-year-old Shiran Franco, who had been buried under seven floors of rubble for over 98 hours. Shiran's twin brother Arieh, who was asleep in the same room as she was when the earthquake hit Turkey Tuesday morning, was found dead.

More from the New York Times:

Eight babies have been born here since the quake. One boy was named Israel, and one girl is called Ziona. Their names are symbols of how firmly the earthquake has sealed the alliance between Israel and Turkey.

''God bless the Israelis,'' said one new mother, Serap Balcioglu, whose child was born blue and seemingly lifeless but was revived by an emergency team at the hospital. ''They're taking beautiful care of me. What would we do without them?''

January 2001 - Israel sends aid to El Salvador after a quake strikes that country.

In January 2001, the Israeli Foreign Ministry dispatched a medical team and a shipment of medicines and medical supplies to assist the victims of the earthquake in El Salvador. Leading the delegation were the Director of the Foreign Ministry's Latin America Division, Mr. Alex Ben-Zvi, and the Director of the Schneider Hospital Trauma Center, Dr. Yehezkel Waisman.

January 2001 - Israel sends supplies and rescue teams to India in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. And a story that we heard in Haiti we first heard in India.

Parents of a premature baby born in the Israeli field hospital established by the Israel Defense Forces in the wake of last week's earthquake in India named their child Yisraela after the State of Israel, MA'ARIV reported. Yisraela's condition is improving daily.

January 2005 - Israel sends experts to help find survivors and identify victims of the tsunami.

At the same time, Southeast Asian governments have turned to Israel to request aid in areas in which Israel has acquired a reputation for excellence.

Jerusalem was asked - and agreed - to send trauma experts to help survivors of Sri Lanka cope with the tragedy, while Thailand's government turned to Israel's forensic experts for help in identification of thousands of victims.

Israel is currently providing aid to some countries with which it does not have diplomatic relations, such as Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

This week, an El Al plane carrying 60 tons of aid landed in Indonesia - a country which has the largest Moslem population in the world, and no ties with Israel.

There's some more (if outdated) general information about Israel's relief efforts.

Perhaps Israel's greatest rescue was that of some 36,000 Ethiopian Jews in the early to mid 1980's and integrated them into society.

In addition to these governmental efforts, private Israeli concerns are very involved in helping others internationally. For example the late Dr. Amram Cohen founded Save a Child's Heart. Of the 2200 children treated by this incredible program, 1000 have been Palestinians.

Currently children from all over the world are being treated in Israel through this program.

I am certain that when it comes to emergencies, United States contributes more; but Israel is almost always there regardless of the race or religion. Almost? Well though Israel would help prevent enemies from dying, the Iranian regime declared "We' d rather die first." rather than accept aid from Israel (via Mideast Web).

So why, despite the loss of 40,000 lives in the Gilan earthquake of 1990, had nothing been done? The same question was being asked back in the queue outside the clinic. Fariba Hemati told the Guardian what she thought of official efforts, "Our government is only preoccupied with slogans: 'Death to America', 'Death to Israel', 'Death to this and that'. We have had three major earthquakes in the past three decades. Thousands of people have died but nothing has been done. Why?"

As she was queueing Jahanbakhsh Khanjani, spokesman for Iran's interior ministry, was denying that a team from Israel was coming to help. "The Islamic Republic of Iran," he told the press, "accepts all kinds of humanitarian aid from all countries and international organisations, with the exception of the Zionist regime." The Israelis, of course, have some reputation for rescue work, but it was ideology rather than humanity that was at stake here.

Sri Lanka, was little better, refusing Israeli workers but allowing Israeli material aid.

Israel's profile is not of on oppressor, but that of a rescuer. Sure Israel fights; but it does so in self defense. The hypocrisy inherent in the spectacle of Israel standing accused of crimes against humanity by the very same nations who protect Omar Bashir is beyond belief. The hypocrisy is magnified by the fact that Israel's expertise in search and rescue missions is a response to the terror war it has been fighting since its founding as a modern state in 1948. The persecution of Israel reveals its enemies' immorality.

Frida Ghitis summed it up very well:

While the harshest critics of Israel's morality, the countries that have done their best to smear Israel, did not lift a finger to help Haiti. Israel, a land smaller than New Hampshire, sent hundreds of emergency workers, one of the largest contingents. When other countries started packing, Israeli said they will stay there at least another month.

Israel's demonizers will concoct sinister reasons for Israel's good deeds. You can count on that. Israel's response to Haiti's plight shows the country's true face -- a face its enemies don't want you to see.

Crossposted on Yourish.