Doc's Talk: Humanitarian and International Aid: A Core Israeli Value

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Humanitarian and International Aid: A Core Israeli Value

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi - Apr 04, 2008
The Israel Project

Within a decade of Israel’s founding, the government and its people had demonstrated a deep commitment to engage in humanitarian relief efforts and international development programs. In 1958, Israel adopted an official humanitarian aid agenda as a principal element of the country’s international cooperation efforts. [1] Over the years, the country has extended international humanitarian aid assistance to more than 140 countries, even to those who do not maintain – and even refuse – diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. [2]Israel’s Darfur Refugees

Israel has granted asylum to hundreds of refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region. [3] According to the UN, more than 400,000 people have been killed in the four-year-old Darfur conflict, and more than two million more have been displaced. [4] The conflict has been marked by widespread atrocities such as mass rape, military attacks on civilians and ethnic cleansing. [5]

In September 2007, the Israeli government granted asylum to 498 Darfur refugees. [6] The following month, the government gave 51 of them new homes at kibbutzes – collective living communities unique to Israel – where they now live and work. [7] On Oct. 17, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that 300 of the Darfur refugees were successfully settled in homes in the southern Negev region. [8] Israel’s foreign ministry announced in September that it would donate $5 million to victims of genocide in Darfur -- $4 million via international aid organizations and $1 million through the purchase and donation of medicine and water desalination equipment. [9]

There also has been a significant level of grassroots, social activism by Israeli civil society organizations on behalf of Darfur refugees. The Committee for Advancement of Refugees from Darfur (CARD) coordinates and oversees all of Israel’s media efforts and political advocacy aimed at bringing greater public awareness to the Sudanese refugee problem in Israel. [10] Similarly, the Hotline for Migrant Workers, a non-governmental organization, has undertaken legal action for the refugees. The Hotline’s volunteers visit detention centers, take testimonies and provide clothes and phone cards. [11] Among other NGOs assisting Darfurian refugees are the World Union of Jewish Students Institute (WUJS) in Arad, the Jewish Agency for Israel. [12] and a number of kibbutzes such as Kibbutz Eilot in southern Israel. [13]

Govt.-sponsored International Development Program Provides Wide Range of Services

The Center for International Cooperation, better known by the acronym MASHAV, is the Israel Foreign Ministry’s international development program. MASHAV assists countries striving to alleviate global problems of hunger, disease and poverty by providing technical training and sharing technology to improve quality of life. [14] MASHAV’s projects include: Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security, Crisis Medicine Training, Community Development, Education, Empowerment of Women, Social Change and Humanitarian Aid. [15] One example of MASHAV’s work is its African Market Garden project, which aims to enhance agricultural yields and reduce risk to single-household farm-plots in arid and semi-arid zones. [16] In MASHAV’s Eye Camps program, Israeli eye doctors set up temporary clinics in developing countries for two-week periods to treat preventable blindness and ocular disease. The doctors treat hundreds of patients, perform operations and train local staff. [17]

Disaster Relief: The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 and the Kashmir Earthquake of 2005

The Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004 was one of the worst natural disasters in history. Israel sent 60 tons of aid to Indonesia, which was well received by a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, and no ties with Israel. [18] The Israeli government also sent a small number of Israel Defense Forces personnel with 82 tons of relief supplies, including medicine, water, food, blankets, tents, nylon sheeting and electric generators to Sri Lanka. [19] The Israeli charity organization ‘Coah Latet Meir Panim’ (The Power to Enlighten Faces) contributed 250,000 water-purifying tablets, 1,000 water containers, medical equipment and medication. [20] Magen David Adom (Red Star of David) – Israel’s division of the International Red Cross – in cooperation with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent (used in place of the Red Cross in many Islamic countries), [21] dispatched additional urgent medical supplies to hospitals in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, including more than 4,000 vials of critically needed serum albumin valued at more than $100,000. [22]

Israeli organizations were also involved in providing aid to Pakistan after the November 2005 earthquake in Kashmir. An Israeli NGO, Israeli Flying Aid (IFA), which provides disaster relief around the world, sent a mission to the region and provided thousands of families basic dry food products, blankets, coats, socks, personal clay heating kits and iron sheets to shield temporary shelters from heavy snow. [23]

Fast Israeli Rescue and Search Team

The Fast Israeli Rescue and Search Team (FIRST) is an Israeli NGO that sends search and rescue teams to disaster zones around the world. An earthquake in Peru in August 2007 killed more than 520 people and left 90,000 people homeless. FIRST sent a delegation of three doctors and three nurses to assist those injured by the earthquake. FIRST has also provided relief assistance in Turkey, India, Mexico, El Salvador, Greece, Armenia and New Guinea, among others. [24]

IsraAID (The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid)

IsraAID, founded in Israel in 2001, is an umbrella organization of more than 35 Israeli and Jewish non-governmental organizations and other individuals active in development and relief work around the world and concerned about global issues. Its members include the American Jewish Committee (AJC), B’nai B’rith International, FIRST, the Jerusalem AIDS Project, United Jewish Communities (UJC), Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), Save a Child’s Heart, the Israeli Friends of Tibet and Aid Without Borders (AWB). [25]

According to IsraAID, its members “believe in providing humanitarian aid worldwide to people in need, regardless of religion, race, gender, nationality, age and disabilities.” [26]

IsraAID and its members have provided relief assistance to more than 20 countries including Rwanda, India, Mexico, Congo, Chad, Sudan (Darfur) and Malawi [27] . IsraAID partnered with organizations to bring relief to areas hit by the deadly 2005 tsunami in Southeast Asia including Sri Lanka [28] and co-coordinated the first Israeli humanitarian mission on the Kenya-Somali border, during which the Israeli team provided aid to Somali refugees. [29]

The organization, along with F.I.R.S.T, sent a team of six medical personnel and airlifted almost two tons of medicine and medical equipment to Pisco, Peru, to aid the victims of an earthquake that struck the country on Aug. 15, 2007. The medical team opened several field clinics in areas affected by the earthquake and treated at least 400 patients. [30]

Save a Child’s Heart

Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) is an organization that provides urgent pediatric heart surgery and follow-up care for children from developing countries. [31] SACH was founded in 1995 and has provided heart treatment to children in countries including China, Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, Jordan, Russia, Sri Lanka and Ukraine as well as to children in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The procedures and other assistance are carried out at the Wolfson Medical Center in the Israeli town of Holon. One notable example of SACH’s work is the treatment it has provided to Iraqi children since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime. The organization has treated more than 42 Iraqi children, including six-year-old Iman (see picture) in January 2007. [32] SACH also has treated more than 800 Palestinian children from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [33]

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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