israel

Date:   8/24/2007 4:14:10 PM ( 17 y ago)

Israel Offers Humanitarian Relief to Peru
Latest Mission Follows Long History of Global Aid

Timeline of Israel's Humanitarian Efforts

Israel this week sent a team of six medical personnel and airlifted almost two tons of medicine and medical equipment Monday to Pisco, Peru, to aid the victims of the earthquake that struck the country on Aug. 15. [1] [2] In addition, the Israeli Foreign Ministry donated $20,000 to purchase blankets and tents for the disaster victims. [3] The 8.0-magnitude earthquake left 503 people dead and 1,042 others injured. It also destroyed 34,410 homes, leaving more than 100,000 people homeless. [4]

The six medical personnel traveled to Peru on behalf of FIRST (Fast Israel Rescue and Search Team), an umbrella organization for Israeli emergency teams, as well as IsraAID (Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid). Their trip was sponsored by two organizations, B'nai Brith International and the Israeli branch of the American Jewish Committee. [5]

This is not the first time Israel has taken the initiative to help disaster victims. Israel began organizing humanitarian efforts through MASHAV, the Center for International Cooperation, [6] 10 years after the state was founded. Since then, Israel has extended humanitarian aid to more than 140 countries including Bosnia & Herzegovina, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Venezuela. [7]

Examples of Israel's Humanitarian Efforts (This list is not comprehensive)

Jan. 2005: After a deadly tsunami hits Southeast Asia, Israel is one of the first nations to offer assistance, sending hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid to countries hit by the disaster and donating $100,000 to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). [8] Israel dispatches a medical-humanitarian relief team to Thailand and $600,000 [9] in medicine and 82 tons of humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka. The relief shipment to Sri Lanka includes medicine, water, food, baby food, blankets, tents and generators. [10] (View Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Operations in Tsunami Disaster PowerPoint ) Israeli organizations and companies donate 75 tons of emergency aid materials to Indonesia, a country that has no diplomatic relations with Israel. The El Al plane carrying the cargo includes equipment for emergency food kitchens to provide meals for about 4,000 people a day and medical equipment to set up a mobile clinic. Other materials donated to Indonesia include 20 tons of medicine from Teva Pharmaceuticals and 16 tons of baby food.
Jan. - Feb. 2001: A team of medical personnel, along with medicine and medical supplies, are sent to El Salvador in January after an earthquake strikes the area. In addition, Latet ("to give"), an Israeli humanitarian aid organization, distributes aid to El Salvadoran refugees and collects approximately 22 tons of clothing and blankets. The Israeli delegation assists the El Salvadoran population again in February, after a second earthquake hits a village in San Vicente. [11]
Jan. 2001: Israel, following an Indian request, sends a team of about 150 medical personnel and medical equipment to aid earthquake victims in western India. Israeli medics treat 1,211 people, assist in the delivery of 12 babies and take part in search-and-rescue efforts during their two-week stay. [12]

An Israeli doctor treating an Indian baby in
the field hospital after a 2001 earthquake.
(Photo courtesy IDF Spokesman)

April 2000: Using two Israel Air Force planes, Israel sends 30 tons in emergency aid to starving Ethiopians including medicine, food, baby food and blankets. [13]
Aug. 1999: Israel dispatches a team of 250 people, as well as rescue dogs and equipment to areas in western Turkey devastated by an earthquake that killed more than 17,000 people and injured 44,000 others. [14] [15] Israel also establishes a field hospital with a staff of about 100 people. The hospital includes two wards for adults and children, an intensive care unit, an operating room, a delivery room and laboratories. [16] More than 370 patients are treated and eight babies are delivered at the hospital. [17] Israel also rebuilds an ICU and Rehabilitation Center in Düzce, Turkey that was destroyed by the earthquake. [18]

An Israeli rescue team pulls a Turkish woman from the rubble after a 1999 earthquake.

(Photo Courtesy IsrAid.org.il)

April 1999: Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon orders the dispatch of medics and medical aid to Kosovo refugee centers and to refugees in Albania and Macedonia. [19] The Israeli government establishes a medical field hospital, set up by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Medical Corps, in a refugee camp located in northern Macedonia. The hospital provides humanitarian aid to the Albanian refugees fleeing their homes in Kosovo. During a period of 16 days, the medical staff treats 1,560 patients and hospitalizes more than 100. [20]
Nov. 1998: Israel extends emergency aid to several Central American countries - Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala - after Hurricane Mitch, which killed more than 11,000 people, devastates the region. [21] Israel sends medical aid teams, equipment and supplies to Honduras and Nicaragua and medical supplies to El Salvador and Guatemala. An Israeli company, Isra-Medicom, donates one-and-a-half tons of medical supplies. [22]
Aug. 1998: Israel sends a search-and-rescue team to Nairobi, Kenya, following twin terrorist bombings that left 213 people dead and more than 4,000 injured. [23] The team includes dogs trained to find corpses and provides stretchers and specialized equipment. [24]
July 1998: Israel sends thousands of dollars in medical equipment and supplies to Albania, Moldova and Yakutia, areas affected by the fighting in Kosovo. [25]
July 1994: Israel sets up a field hospital for Rwandan refugees in Goma, Zaire. Other than the local hospital, the Israeli operating rooms are the only ones in the area. A French organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres, asks to coordinate efforts with the Israelis. [26]
1989: A six-person team is sent to treat those injured in the Ural Mountains train accident in Moscow. [27]
1989: Medical aid is sent to Romania. [28]
Dec. 1988: An Israeli medical team sets up a field hospital in Armenia and treats 2,500 people following an earthquake there. [29]
1986: After a volcanic eruption in Cameroon, in western Africa, a 16-person IDF Medical Corps team treats thousands suffering from respiratory problems and burns there. [30]
1970s: Israel grants safehaven to refugees and foreign nationals from Vietnam, Bosnia and Kosovo. [31]

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Footnotes

[1] Mandel, Roi, "Israeli mission to aid Peru," Ynetnews.com, Aug. 20, 2007,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3439964,00.html

[2] Israel sends humanitarian aid to earthquake victims in Peru," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, Aug. 20, 2007,
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/2007/Israeli+humanita

rian+aid+to+Peru+20-Aug-2007.htm
[3] "Israel extended aid to victims of the Peruvian earthquake," The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, Aug. 19, 2007,
http://www.israaid.org.il/story_page.asp?id=1124

[4] Chauvin/Pisco, Lucien, "Recovering from the Peru Earthquake," TIME magazine, Aug. 20, 2007,
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1654411,00.html

[5] Mandel, Roi, "Israeli mission to aid Peru," Ynetnews.com, Aug. 20, 2007,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3439964,00.html

[6] "Israeli Humanitarian Relief-MASHAV-the Israel Foreign Ministry Center for International Cooperation," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, Oct. 1, 2002,
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mashav%20%E2%80%93%20international%20development/ac...

[7] "Israel Humanitarian Relief-MASHAV-the Israel Foreign Ministry Center for International Cooperation," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, Oct. 1, 2002,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/Mashav+%E2%80%93+International+Development/W...

[8] "Summary of Israeli assistance to the tsunami disaster victims," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, Jan. 17, 2005,
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/2005/Su

mmary+of+Israeli+assistance+to+the+tsunami+disaster+victims+17-Jan-2005.htm
[9] The Tsunami Disaster in Southeast Asia," Ministry of Foreign Affairs Operations PowerPoint Presentation, Jan. 1, 2005,
http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/{84DC5887-741E-4056-8D91-A389164BC94E}/200501MFA_ENG_TSUNAMI.PPT

[10] Ibid.
[11] "Israeli Aid to Earthquake Victims in El Salvador-January/February 2001," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, March 1, 2001,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2001/3/Israeli

+Aid+to+Earthquake+Victims+in+El+Salvador+-.htm
[12] "Israeli Aid to Earthquake Victims in India-January 2001," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, Feb. 13, 2001,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2001/2/Israeli+Aid+to+E...

[13] "Israel Sends Emergency Aid to Ethiopia," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, April 24, 2000,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/2000/Israel...

[14] "Israeli Aid for Turkish Earthquake Victims," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, Aug. 18, 1999,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1999/8/Israeli+Aid+for+...

[15] "Worldwide Earthquake Relief: 2nd Anniversary of the Earthquake in Turkey," American Red Cross, accessed Aug. 21, 2007,
http://www.redcross.org/news/in/earthquakes/turkeypage.html

[16] "Israeli Aid for Turkish Earthquake Victims," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, Aug. 18, 1999,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1999/8/Israeli+Aid+for+...

[17] "IDF Field Hospital in Turkey," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, Aug. 24, 1999,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/1999/IDF%20Field%20Ho...

[18] "Israeli Humanitarian Relief-MASHAV-the Israel Foreign Ministry Center for International Cooperation," Oct. 1, 2002,
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mashav%20%E2%80%93%20international%20development/ac...

[19] "Aid to Kosovo Refugees," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, April 3, 1999,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/1999/Aid+to...

[20] "Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps humanitarian mission for Kosovo's refugees," NCBI-PubMed, accessed Aug. 22, 2007,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=153...

[21] "Mitch: The Deadliest Atlantic Hurricane Since 1780," National Climactic Data Center, accessed Aug. 21, 2007,
http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/reports/mitch/mitch.html

[22] "Israeli Medical Aid to Flood Victims in Central America," Nov. 10, 1998,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1998/11/Israeli+Medical...

[23] Hirschkorn, Phil, "Embassy bombing defendants' confessions admissible, says U.S. Judge," CNN, Jan. 29, 2001,
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/01/29/embassy.bombings.trial/index.html

[24] Vick, Karl, "149 Confirmed Dead in Embassy Blasts," The Washington Post, Aug. 9, 1998,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/eafricabombing/stories/ma...

[25] "Israel to Aid Refugees in Kosovo, Moldova and Yakutia," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, July 8, 1998,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/About%20the%20Ministry/MFA%20Spokesman/1998/...

[26] "Israeli Medical Aid for Rwandan Refugees in Zaire," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, July 26, 1994,
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/1994/ISRAELI

+MEDICAL+AID+FOR+RWANDAN+REFUGEES+IN+ZAIRE.htm
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Ibid.
[31] "Israeli Humanitarian Relief-MASHAV-the Israel Foreign Ministry Center for International Cooperation," Oct. 1, 2002,
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mashav%20%E2%

80%93%20international%20development/activities/israeli%20humanitarian%20relief-%20mashav%20-%20the%20israel%20f

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