Initial Israeli Assistance
Israeli assistance receives
little or no publication in world media about its extensive Tsunami
relief assistance, so it is important to appreciate both its dimensions
and its special features, and to bring them to the media.
As soon as news of carnage and devastation caused by the tsunami became
known, Israeli governmental and non-governmental organizations began
formulating plans of action. At the same time, as incoming local information
began to show the extent of the disaster, formal requests for help began
to arrive from the affected countries.
First to call was Sri Lanka, asking for expert physicians in trauma.
Four doctors from the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem were
on a plane to Sri Lanka just three hours later: the head of both the
surgery and trauma units, Professor Avi Rifkind (Magen David
Adom), plus specialists in trauma, rescue operations and
pediatrics. Rifkind was asked to survey the southern region of Sri Lanka,
and to make suggestions as how to best deal with the medical challenge
that lay ahead.
In addition to this initial staff, the Israel Ministry of Defense coordinated
a plan to send approximately 150 doctors and other aid workers in order
to set up an emergency field hospital in Sri Lanka, replete with laboratories
and x-ray facilities. The Sri Lankan government, however, published
a request that countries wishing to help should nonetheless refrain
from sending large contingents of personnel due to security and logistical
problems. Understanding Sri Lanka's needs, the Ministry of Defense scaled
down the numbers of personnel to about 50, while putting together and
delivering on December 28th an aid shipment of 82 tons which included:
10,000 blankets, 3680 liters of mineral water, 12 tons of food, 17.5
tons of baby food, over 9 tons of medicine, electrical generators, tents,
beds, and mattresses. At the same time, the Israeli equivalent of the
Red Cross, the Magen David Adom, sent 4,080 bottles of the very valuable
serum albumin, a protein produced from blood plasma which is highly
effective in treating both trauma and malnutrition.
By this time, medical teams were also being dispatched to the hardest
hit areas of Thailand by Israel's Ministry of Health. The Thai ambassador
to Israel would later thank Israel for being one of the first of only
sixteen countries to send doctors and rescue workers. Unlike Sri Lanka,
the government of Thailand did not at the time request more help, as
it had far more resources and far less relative damage than did Sri
Lanka.
However, there was one area where Israel's help was especially needed
in Thailand: forensic experts. Israeli forensic specialists have gained
much experience in the past four years dealing with identifying burnt,
mutilated, partial corpses, as a result of all of the suicide bombings
perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists. Thailand requested that the Israel's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs arrange for a team of forensic experts to
not only participate in the task of identification of victims, but to
actually oversee the other foreign teams coming to help out in the badly
hit region of Phuket, and then later the more easterly city of Krabi.
All told, Israel sent 23 forensic examiners and pathologists (with such
rapid decomposition occurring in the ocean water, most bodies are identified
using finger prints, forensic odontology - dental records - and DNA,
as well as personal effects and identifying features.) This team, under
the leadership of Deputy Commander Shalom Zarum, was given responsibility
over a contingent of some 250 forensic experts from 19 different countries
and established the forensic identification database which will focus
primarily on identifying the foreign victims of the Tsunami disaster.
Links
Summary of initial efforts in Sri Lanka:
http://www.juf.org/news_public_affairs/article.asp?key=5672
Hundreds of Israelis head for SE Asia to aid in search and rescue:
http://www.israaid.org.il/story_page.asp?id=437
Summary of Israeli relief efforts:
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=79798
Summary of Israeli relief efforts, including mention of OdorScreen:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=74787
Government of Sri Lanka requests fewer foreign personnel to arrive;
seeks materials and money:
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/s/E2BAB534F562379BC1256F7A00387502
Israeli army sends 82 tons of supplies + 50 doctors and aid workers
to Sri Lanka:; Israeli Red Cross sends $100,000 of serum albumin
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2004/Israeli
+humanitarian+and+medical+shipments+leave+for+Sri+Lanka.htm
Magen David Adom enlists 4,000 volunteers to collect food for tsunami
victims:
http://www.israaid.org.il/story_page.asp?id=442
Magen David Adom drive yields over 14 tons of food and 39,000 liters
of mineral water:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
Printer&cid=1104808692219&p=1078027574097
MDA workers found and rescued a six year old boy holding a baby who
had taken refuge in a Buddhist temple.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
Printer&cid=1105845486571&p=1078027574097
Thai Ambassador thanks Israel for medical and forensic help:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
Printer&cid=1104808692007&p=1078113566627
Israeli forensic team asked to oversee identification operations in
Phuket and Krabi:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/522191.html
Israeli forensic team of 23 responsible for 250 forensic specialists
from 19 countries:
http://www.asianewsnet.net/level3_template1.php?l3sec=2&news_id=34432
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Power Point presentation (includes
reference to $600K in medicines to Thailand):
http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/3DCE8F7B-D261-443F-
9416-C73332074358/0/mfa_eng_tsunami.pps
Honest Reporting
Israeli Aid goes unreported
http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/Israeli_Aid3_Unreported.asp
Yad Sarah becomes first Israeli NGO recognized by UN-ECOSOC (economic
and social council):
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
Printer&cid=1105845486635&p=1078027574097
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