I am sure most of you have been following the story of devastation and suffering in Haiti. Many countries have offered both monetary and physical help – many sent search and rescue teams, supplies (although these have been in short order), and medical teams. Here are some of the amounts pledged to Haiti by various countries: China: $10M, UN: $10M, Spain $4.3M, Italy: $2.6M, Indonesia: $1M, Morocco: $1M, Russia: $700K (as reported by the Guardian on link below).
As you can see some of the largest countries in the world – those that often preach Israel how to behave fairly in the Middle East – donated very little. With the exception of Morocco (pledged $1M), none of the Muslim and Arab countries were even on the list of donors. I have not been able to find any reports showing the Arab/Muslim countries lending any help to Haiti.
This brings us to the one of the smallest countries in the world with population of about 7.5M, a country that has been constantly under attack by its neighbors, a country that its existence has been threatened since it was established less than 62 years ago – Israel.
Israel immediately sent two ELAL (Israeli national airline) Boeing 747s packed with two search and rescue teams, a mobile high-tech hospital capable of treating 500 patience per day, and various medical and support personnel to Haiti. To this day, Israel has had the only field hospital in Haiti capable of performing complex surgeries and providing a variety of medical help including maternity ward, neonatal care, pediatric care, care for the elderly, two surgery rooms, x-ray equipment, state-of-the-art respiratory care equipment, and an emergency room.
According to Israeli sources as of last week Israel sent 40 doctors, 24 nurses, medics, paramedics, and search and rescue teams – this tiny country has sent so far over 220 people. It was reported In Jerusalem Post and YNET that this week Israel is sending additional personnel and equipment.
By comparison, China has sent only 60 people so far, and as I already mentioned, it seems that the oil rich Arab countries has sent nothing. The United States pledged a huge support of over $100M and sent thousands of U.S. troops, but so far has been unable to send a working field hospital. I agree with Stephanie Gutmann’s, who wrote in her report that probably the State Department is still drafting the crucial legal papers needed!
One of the first places Israeli search and rescue teams went was to the collapsed U.N. building. The U.N. building from all places! The same U.N. that misses no opportunity to attack Israel and accuse it of “disproportionate” responses when Israel is trying to defend itself from Arab/Muslim aggression and terrorism. The same U.N. that is passing an unfair resolution after resolution and report after report accusing Israel of every imaginable crime – comparing Zionism to Fascism, accusing Israel of crimes against humanity (the infamous Goldstone report), and so on…
Watching the media reports of the Haiti disaster in the U.S. in the last few days (e.g., Fox News, CNN, and CBS), I was disappointed that there was not much mention of the Israeli response. Most concentrated on what U.S. is getting ready to do and on the lack of appropriate and immediate help in Haiti. There were few welcomed exceptions – one reporter on CNN had a short report of how U.S. medical volunteers desperately searching for a hospital facility that has appropriate equipment for providing the needed medical services and finding that only the Israeli team has the only such facility on the island. In complete disbelief the CNN reporter reviews the Israeli hospital and questions why the U.S. was not able to provide an equivalent support (refer to link below).
It’s not that I am looking for a special praise for Israel. After all, the Israelis are there to simply provide humanitarian aid and not for PR purposes. It is just that many in the world media so eagerly report anything negative about Israel – even when the information is completely false – I just hope that they would have the decency to report the heartwarming stories of Israelis helping their fellow world citizens. This may be too much to hope from our many enemies around the world, but at least our friends here in the U.S. should take a stronger notice.
Yes, another disproportionate response from Israel! Once again, this makes me proud to be Jewish and to be Israeli!
Referenced Links:
News report on www.guardian.co.uk
Stephanie Gutmann’s Report
CNN Report
