Hello Friends,
I've been a bit lackadaisical about posting in this thread lately and I do apologize for that. It's been for a combination of reasons but that's over and done with.
With the recent catastrophe in Haiti and the terrible devastation of that small country a few interesting things came to light.
The first being the intensive help from many countries and I must specifically address the help from Israel but more about that later.
The second the total lack of interest and assistance from any Muslim country. The interesting thing is that when some of those countries were hit badly in the past they received help and assistance from the world but fail to reciprocate in kind when others are affected. I find it hard to understand this lack of feelings for others but possibly it could be that the countries are infidel countries and don't deserve the help of true believers. Just a thought but deserves some attention.
Back to Israel. Taking into account the fact that Israel is a small country I am very proud of her efforts and assistance to the Haitian people.
You'll find much information about the field hospital, dog units with their handlers and much more in the below articles and videos.
Shalom,
Peter
INTERNATIONAL AID TO HAITI: ARABS OPT OUT
This CBS / Associated Press report lists countries providing aid toHaiti in the wake of that country’s devastating earthquake. Conspicuousby its absence is the entire Muslim world, including the extremely richoil producing nations.
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/14/world/main6097735.shtml
However, Arab countries do not discriminate against non-Muslimcountries. Their help was missing after the earthquakes in Turkey andIran and during war and famine in Muslim Africa too.
ISRAEL’S DISPROPORTIONATE RESPONSE
Because of Israel’s long history of enduring bomb and missileattacks the Israeli army (the IDF) is one of the most experienced inthe world in treating mass-injuries and using specially trained snifferdogs to locate wounded persons in the rubble.
The IDF was one of the first on the scene in Haiti last week(sending considerably more troops and doctors than, for example,Britain and France did). Hundreds, if not thousands of Haitians havealready been treated (and many life-saving surgeries performed) in theIDF Medical and Rescue Field Hospital, set up in a large tent on asoccer field in Port-Au-Prince. In addition, Israeli forces havelocated and rescued survivors trapped in ruined buildings, includingmany who were injured during the collapse of the UN headquarters.
In addition to teams from the IDF’s canine unit, Israel sent 52doctors and 25 nurses as well as paramedics, and has set up a pharmacy,a children’s ward, a radiology department, an intensive care unit, anemergency room, two operating rooms, a surgical department, an internalmedicine department and a maternity ward. Israel has since sent afurther 220 doctors, medics and nurses. Israel also sent a number ofFrench-speaking translators to aid doctors.
Yesterday, a baby boy was delivered inside the Israeli field hospital. The mother of the child said she will call him Israel.
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More pictures hereCBS NEWS: THE ISRAELI ARMY HOSPITAL IS THE “ROLLS ROYCE” OF MEDICINE IN HAITI
Here are some positive stories from major international media.
This is perhaps the most positive TV news coverage I have ever seen on Israelis since the advent of cable news.
This is a heart-warming piece here on WABC News (18January): A brother of a resident of Queens, New York, is pulled out ofthe rubble by an Israeli rescue team after four days.
In this piece from Britain’s Sky News, the Israelis rescue a man alive after a very dangerous 8 hours digging in the debris.
This short CNN report piece (18 January) is worth watching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suo6UzRb850&feature
As is this item from Fox News (17 January):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3yTptugzPI&feature
CBS News (as repeated here on Sky News) (18 January) calls the Israeli IDF hospital the “Rolls Royce” of medicine in Haiti:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbcUAFbXGBI&feature
And here is a story from ABC News (18 January): Miracle birth amid Haiti's rubble.
And as for the BBC (the world’s biggest news broadcaster)? Instead Panorama,the flagship news program of the BBC’s main channel, BBC1, this eveningagain devoted the entire program to another piece of anti-Israeliagitprop.