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JDC’s Haiti Relief-One Week Later

January 22, 2010

Millions of lives-and the future of a nation-are still in jeopardy.

One week after a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti, global relief efforts are battling the clock and multiple aftershocks to meet the vast humanitarian needs of the Haitian people. The good news is that JDC and its partners on the ground are reaching victims every hour with critical medical, nutritional, and material relief.

Supporters of JDC are directly responsible for this progress to date:

  • As of January 20, JDC has received more than 8,000 individual gifts-exceeding $1.5 million-for Haiti relief. An additional $2 million has been raised for JDC Haiti relief by the Jewish Federations of North America.
  • Within days of the disaster, JDC-supported relief agency Heart to Heart International and its team of doctors and nurses were on the ground providing critical medical aid first in Port-au-Prince and later in Leogane, an isolated town where little other assistance has reached.
  • The Medical Corps of the Israel Defense Forces, another JDC partner, is operating a field hospital in Port-au-Prince that is saving lives and administering vital medical care. JDC helped equip the hospital with high-demand orthopedic devices and infant incubators for its neonatal unit. This effort has been widely reported in the news, including on CNN , FoxNews , and Israel’s Channel 2 (please view this link in Internet Explorer).
  •  Working in collaboration with the Afya Foundation, JDC sent a container of mattresses and much-needed medical supplies to Zanmi Lasante/Partners in Health, a renowned local NGO. A second container is being shipped on Friday and a third will follow.
  •  JDC is also supporting EcoWorks International which is currently setting up a feeding program for victims.
  •  Further partnerships with local NGOs are being explored by JDC to provide emergency assistance during this initial stage of its disaster response.
  •  JDC is continuing to coordinate its activities with the White House, the Department of State, USAID, the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Israeli relief agencies, the United Nations, and the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief.

JDC’s work and impact will be felt long after images of the devastation disappear from the news. As with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, JDC will reserve a large portion of funds raised for Haiti relief for intermediate and long-term rebuilding and reconstruction programs. The goal is to effect sustainable improvements in health, education, and employment throughout the island nation.
 
JDC brings unparalleled experience to this effort through its International Development Program (IDP), which has provided immediate relief and long-term development assistance to victims of natural and manmade disasters in more than 60 countries.
 
To Make a Contribution:
Online: www.JDC.org
By Phone: 212-687-6200
By Mail: check payable to
JDC-Haiti Earthquake Relief
P.O. Box 530
132 East 43rd St
New York, NY, 10017

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Israeli aid effort helps Haitians—and Israel’s image | JTA

January 21, 2010

By Uriel Heilman · January 19, 2010

NEW YORK (JTA) — The text messages started coming in to Shachar Zahavi’s cell phone in the middle of the night: “What are we going to do about Haiti?”

Zahavi, chairman of IsraAid, a coordinating organization for 17 Israeli and Jewish humanitarian groups, hadn’t even heard yet about the earthquake that had rocked Port-au-Prince, leaving untold thousands dead. Read more . . .

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The big lie of Israeli ‘Organ Harvesting’ resurfaces re Haiti Earthquake

January 21, 2010

New York, NY, January 21, 2010 … In a disturbing illustration of what can happen when one person takes a message of hate and incitement to the Internet, the Big Lie of Israeli organ harvesting for profit has again resurfaced and gone global practically overnight, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Claims that the Israel Defense Forces mobile hospital unit in Haiti may be involved in stealing organs were first made in a video posted on YouTube by a Seattle man who identified himself as “T. West” of “AfriSynergy Productions.”

The allegations in his video spread globally in less than a day – a phenomenon that ADL said “demonstrates both the power of the Internet to spread disinformation, and the ability of any individual to disseminate the Big Lie with ease.”

“We have entered a new era where any individual can perpetuate a lie and spread it globally from the confines of his home,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “The video-sharing technology enables one person to pick up something that is completely wrong and to push it out as fact.”

Several anti-Israel Web sites and Middle East news sources have reported as credible the allegations made by “T. West” that the Israeli medical mission in Haiti may be involved in stealing organs from earthquake victims. According to ADL, the charges of organ harvesting for profit have appeared on various Web sites, including that of Press TV, a state-funded Iranian TV news channel; the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, an armed wing of the terrorist group Hamas; and the site of Alex Jones, an American anti-Israel conspiracy theorist.

Each of the reports directly cites the YouTube video post from Seattle, in which “T. West” charges that the Israel Defense Forces in Haiti may attempt to steal organs. “People have to be aware of personalities who are out for money,” T. West states. “The IDF has participated in the past in steal [sic] organ transplants of Palestinians and others.”

“The world is watching the images coming out of Haiti, and Israel’s state-of-the-art medical facility has become a focus of many news reports,” said Mr. Foxman. “It is hardly surprising that Israel’s enemies are looking for ways to turn the story of Israel’s success in saving lives into a negative. What is surprising is the alacrity with which they pick up on any thread of spurious information on the Internet that may cast a negative light on the Jewish state, no matter how dubious or untrustworthy the source.”

In September 2009, rumors of Israeli organ harvesting in the Palestinian territories spread globally following the publication of a false and malicious article in a Swedish newspaper that Israeli soldiers were harvesting Palestinian organs for profit. Similar rumors were reported in newspapers across the Middle East. The false story quickly mushroomed into a full-blown conspiracy theory alleging a Jewish plot to harvest organs from Algerian children, and others.

ADL has called the rumors of organ harvesting for profit “a new version of the ancient blood libel” which alleged that Jews use the blood of Christian children to bake their Passover bread.

“T. West” is an online moniker used by Theautries West, a Seattle activist who has posted a number of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic videos on YouTube. In a six-part series of videos in August and September 2009, T. West advanced the allegation of Israeli organ harvesting. In one video he states: “Not only in Israel against the Palestinian people … but possibly in other countries around the world, Israelis have been taking body organs and selling them for a very high price to others around the world and inside of Israel.”

In his videos West seems to maintain that Zionists and some Jews do not have a legitimate claim to their identity. He frequently refers to Jews in quotation marks, and calls for African-Americans to cut ties with Jews, who he claims are being “used and abused by many among a group of people who are among the wealthiest in the world.”

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Haiti: Facts Important to Response and Recovery

January 21, 2010

Dr. Paula G. Panzer, Director of the Martha K. Selig Educational Institute Center for Trauma Program Innovation of the Jewish Board of Family & Children’s Services suggests another good resource:

This Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) fact sheet contains information specific to Haiti, including demograhpics, health status, and economy, which will aid responders in understanding the population and environment in Haiti.

Check here for other related resources.

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Jewish Artists for Haiti

January 20, 2010
When: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Where: Stephen Wise Free Synagogue (30 W. 68th St. @ CPW)
Workmen’s Circle invites you to spend an evening with artists, activists and friends on honor and support of our Haitian brothers and sisters. Doors will open at 6 pm.

Tickets at a min $18 donation- but give what you can. Advanced tickets available at http://www.circle.org or a the door.

100% of funds raised will be donated to the following organizations:
American Jewish World Service’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund

Artists Include: Aaron Alexander, Adrienne Cooper, Alicia Svigals, Amy Coleman, Art Bailey, Avi Fox-Rosen, Basya Schaechter, Benji Fox Rosen, Cantor Dan Singer, Dan Rosengard, Eve Sicular, Frank London & The Klezmer Brass All-Stars, Gary Lucas, Greg Wall, Isle of Klezbos (Pam Fleming, Debra Kreisberg, Eve Sicular, Melissa Fogarty, Shoko Nagai, Saskia Lane), Jennifer Miller, Jeremiah Lockwood with Sway Machinery, Judith Sloan, Matt Darriau, Neshama Carlebach &The Green Pastures Baptist Choir, Noah Solomon, Richie Barshay, Soulfarm, Veretski Pass (Joshua Horowitz and Cookie Siegelstein), Yiddish Princess (Sarah Gordon, Avi Fox Rosen, Yoshi Fruchter), and Zalmen Mlotek

To purchase your ticket in advance visit http://www.circle.org or call 212.889.6800 x 212 to order with Kathy.

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Opening Hearts, Wallets for Haitians | Jewish Week

January 20, 2010

Steve Lipman | 1.19.2010
At a Jewish Y on Long Island, Jewish employees take up a collection for the families in Haiti of two maintenance men. In Brooklyn, members of the haredi Orthodox community hold a historic meeting with representatives of the borough’s Haitian-Americans. In southern Florida, a former New Yorker travels to Haiti on short notice to help the relatives of his Haitian-born employees. More. . .

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The IDF field hospital treated two children who were saved from ruins by a New York rescue team | IDF

January 20, 2010

On Tuesday night (Jan. 19), an additional team joined the IDF forces operating in Haiti since last week’s earthquake, consisting of GOC of the Home Front Command, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, CEO of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Eitan Hai-Am, and the Chief Medical officer, Brig. Gen. Nahman Esh. After landing, the team arrived at the IDF field hospital and was updated on the current situation regarding the treatment of victims.

As part of that briefing, Brig. Gen. Shalom Ben-Arye, the commander of the delegation, informed that the search for survivors in the ruins will be stopped. The Home Front Command forces operating in Haiti as part of the IDF delegation will stay prepared, and will only be called to action when they receive a precise report on the discovery of a person buried under rubble at a specific place.
During Tuesday night (Jan. 19), two children were found alive under the ruins of a building, where they had been trapped for almost a week. A joint team of New York fire department and police forces succeeded in rescuing them. The children were transferred to the IDF field hospital in Port-au-Prince. Their condition is defined as stable and they have not suffered serious injuries.

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