Plane turns back to get cancer patient - only in Israel

11-year-old was heading to camp in NY when she was removed from El Al flight after losing passport; document found at last minute

http://www.timesofisrael.com/plane-turns-back-to-pick-up-cancer-patient/

By Lazar Berman August 15, 2013, 

An El Al flight heading from Tel Aviv to New York City returned to its gate to pick up an 11-year old cancer patient who had been taken off the plane when she couldn’t find her passport.

Thirty Israeli children battling cancer were headed to Camp Simcha, a summer camp for young patients in Glen Spey, New York. El Al has partnered with Chai Lifeline, which runs the camp, for the past 20 years to bring such children to the US.

According to Rabbi Yaakov Pinsky, director of Chaiyanu, Chai Lifeline’s Israel branch, the children went through a pre-flight medical examination and took their seats. The senior staff member began collecting passports, and after counting, realized one was missing.

It belonged to 11-year old Inbar Chomsky of Rehovot.

“No one could find Inbar’s passport,” Pinsky wrote in The Yeshiva World News. “Our staff looked high and low, in and under every seat and seat pocket. No passport was found. The flight attendants immediately called the ground crew to help them locate the lost passport. The airport was alerted, and they too searched everywhere from the boarding gate to the El Al aircraft.

“Time was passing fast and the flight needed to depart. Still no passport was found. The ground crew entered the plane and searched frantically for Inbar’s passport. After 25 minutes of pulling apart the aircraft, the crew admitted defeat. El Al had no choice but to tell Inbar that she could not fly. El Al sadly called her mother to tell her that Inbar’s passport was lost and that the girl, who had been fighting illness so valiantly, would not be able to fly to Camp Simcha.”

“Everyone was in shock, no one knew what to do,” said Elad Maimon, program coordinator of the Israeli branch of Chaiyanu, according to Haaretz. “Taking a little girl off a flight is unheard of, and especially when that girl is sick and has already endured enough hardship. The airline personnel had tears in their eyes. They approached Inbar in the terminal. They bought her water, cried with her.”

The plane almost reached the runway when the call went out that Inbar’s passport had been found in another child’s backpack. The flight attendants immediately told the pilots, who spent the next 15 minutes calling the control tower, ground crew, and El Al’s offices.

The plane sat for a half hour, as the pilots awaited a decision.

Finally, they turned the plane around, and drove back to the terminal to pick up young Inbar.

“Her dream came true!” wrote Pinsky. ”Those of us on the plane experienced something as well. Instead of the hostility that usually greets a plane delay, there were cheers and tears on that El Al plane, flight 007. Passengers and crew shared Inbar’s happiness and excitement.”

“Planes rarely return to the gate after departing,” said El Al in a statement. “The plane was on its way to the runway, when the passport was found on the plane. After consulting with El Al crew on the plane and El Al staff at the airport the decision was made and the plane returned to pick up Inbar. El Al was honored and proud to help Inbar’s dream to go to the camp in the USA come true. We wish Inbar full recovery and health.”

According to its website, Camp Simcha offers young patients aged 5 – 20 a chance to enjoy a normal camp experience and take their minds off their illness. “They can share their hopes, fears and triumphs with friends, or just forget about illness for a while.”

Israel Immediately Sends Help to the New State of Sudan

As South Sudan’s Independence Day on July 9th was declared, the international community watched the birth of its newest nation. The situation in the country is harsh. Illiteracy reaches nearly 90%, there is little or no infrastructure in the country, and most of the people have no access to basic clean water and security. In recent months over 117,000 people were displaced and almost 1,400 killed following the conflict between the South and the North and across Sudan 4.27 million people are still internally displaced.

IsraAID: The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid with the support and partnership of The Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto, AJC and local agencies on the ground will be sending a humanitarian aid cargo to assist the people of South Sudan on behalf of the Israeli and Jewish people as a goodwill gesture between both communities.

The IsraAID teams have already begun assessing the longer term needs on the ground for a long term aid mission that would benift children, women and elders in the most affected communities in the country.

“As a small and relatively new born country Israel has gained experience in various factors of water, agriculture, post trauma, education, migration and others that would be valuable to the people of South Sudan who are now building their country. It is our mission and Jewish commitment to reach out to our new friends in any way we can” stated the founding director of IsraAID.

Haiti Rescue Team from Israel

IDF Medical and Rescue Team has set up a Field Hospital, Beginning to Rescue and Treat hundreds

The IDF Medical and Rescue Team has arrived in Haiti, set up a field hospital in Port-Au-Prince and is beginning to treat patients there. In addition, the forces are locating and rescuing survivors trapped in ruined buildings, including many who were injured during the collapse of the UN headquarters.

The field hospital is prepared to receive dozens of ambulances evacuating injured children from the different disaster struck areas. Between Friday night and Saturday, dozens of truckloads of medical and logistical equipment were unloaded and the field hospital set up.

The Israeli delegation landed in the capital of Port-Au-Prince yesterday evening and has located itself in a soccer field near the air port. Upon arrival, C4I teams deployed communications infrastructure in preparations for the hospital's establishment.

Two teams, comprised of search and rescue personnel and canine operators from the IDF canine unit were sent out on rescue missions. The first team was sent to the Haiti UN headquarters in order to assist in rescuing survivors.

The rescue teams are working in cooperation with local authorities in order to reach disaster struck areas where survivors can be located and assisted.

The delegation is scheduled to stay in Haiti for a minimum of two weeks. Further stay will be assessed at the end of this period.

To watch a video of IDF forces operating in Haiti, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk?blend=1&ob=4#p/a/u/0/NdplDDY9MGA
To get photographs of IDF operating in Haiti, go to: www.idfspokesperson.com.

Israelis Save Lives; Deliver New Baby at Israeli Field Hospital in Haiti.

ZAKA rescue unit in Haiti pulls eight students alive from collapsed university building

The six man ZAKA delegation (four from Israel and two from Mexico) had arrived in Haiti aboard a Mexican air force Hercules, immediately after completing their work in recovery and identification in the Mexico City helicopter crash.

On arrival, the ZAKA delegation was dispatched to the collapsed 8-storey university building where cries could be heard from the trapped students. After 38 hours of work around the clock working with the Mexican military delegation and otehr Jewish volunteers from Mexico, the ZAKA volunteers succeeded Saturday in pulling eight students alive from the rubble.

Amid the stench and chaos, the ZAKA delegation took time out to recite Shabbat prayers - a surreal sight of ultra-orthodox men wrapped in prayer shawls standing on the collapsed buildings. Many locals sat quietly in the rubble, staring at the men as they prayed facing Jerusalem. At the end of the prayers, they crowded around the delegation and kissed the prayer shawls.

IsraAID medical team treats injured in Port-au-Prince Hospital

Just minutes after landing in the airport in Port-au-Prince the IsraAID team was met by David Darg, Operation Blessing Director in the field and his staff and joined with them to unload a planeload of food and medical equipment.

The Israeli medical professionals of IsraAID - F.I.R.S.T. traveled to the main Port-au-prince Hospital to start treating patients, joining local physicians at the site of the collapsed central hospital where thousands of wounded have gathered desperate for help.

"The scenes in the hospital were horrible we saw people everywhere on the floors in the building and outside, people with amputations and bone-deep wounds, hundreds of them, the size of the catastrophe is unbelievable. All of the injured were treated until we came by only one local doctor and we were the first foreign backup team to operate in the hospital." Said Nurse Sheva Cohen from Kibbutz Ein Yahav in the Negev.

When the team arrived at the hospital they found most of the injured outside the building laying in beds in the building's garden, probably out of fear of aftershocks and further collapse. The IsraAID team set up treatment rooms in four empty rooms, treating 60 patients with IV and administered medicine. While in the hospital, an infant with 60% burns died and bodies that had not yet been removed for burial were piled up in back.

In the meantime, the logistical personnel remain in the airport area to set up camp and assist local NGO partners with logistical support for relief items that were continuing to land.

Currently the teams are working around the clock to provide assistance to the injured. In light of the scale of the disaster, IsraAID is currently focused on expanding the scale of its operation, preparing an additional team that would be sent next week.

The Pillow

I received another wonderful story of the real Israel from my friend Larry at the Emek Medical Center which for the umpteenth time shows what real people are like here. I think it woorth repeating in its entirety - no need for any further comment

I was standing near the entrance / exit of the hospital’s main lobby at about 4:00 PM when I overheard what sounded like an interesting conversation. I heard a middle-aged Arab saying to a Jew, “… and here I am leaving while he’s staying.” I introduced myself and that’s how I met Ahmed from Kfar (village) Manda, a large Arab village about ¾ of an hour northwest of Afula.

Ahmed is in his 50’s and has the lean hard suntanned body of a man who has worked the land and a deep-lined face that has seen, up close, the reality of Israel. He had been hospitalized in our department of Internal Medicine and had nothing but praise for the multi-ethnic staff that attended to him. What transpired today between him and his Ethiopian Jewish roommate (Gadi), as told to me by Ahmed, is what I shall share with you now.

“Gadi and me, we stepped outside the ward to have a cigarette”, Ahmed began. Smoking is prohibited throughout the hospital campus and I suppose that is why it’s such a popular Israeli pastime. “We were talking, just like you and me now, when all of a sudden Gadi stopped talking and was staring at some place on the wall above us.” Ahmed shuffled his feet a bit and looked off in the distance, mimicking what was obviously his roommate’s silent facial expression. “I asked him, hey Gadi – what are you looking at? He didn’t answer.” He then explained to me that Gadi went rigid as stone, began shaking and then collapsed unconscious against the wall. “I grabbed his body that suddenly felt like a bag of cement and lowered him slowly to the ground. I kept my hand under his head – propping it up like this,” as he gestured to me with an upturned right palm. “Like a pillow, so he wouldn’t bang his head on the stone floor. Gadi began convulsing and his head was banging up and down against my hand and not the hard floor.” Now Ahmed’s open palm was gesticulating in a quick up and down motion. “”Drool and foul smelling liquid ran out of Gadi’s mouth and onto my hand, but I would not let him go.”

What passersby saw was Ahmed from Kfar Manda in his hospital pajamas kneeling in an outside corridor next to an unconscious middle-aged Ethiopian Jew, pillowing his head with his own hand to keep his dark-skinned acquaintance from injuring himself.

Help was only seconds away and Gadi was returned, unharmed to his bed. He awoke not long after that, not remembering falling or being held. They had joked earlier today about Gadi going home and Ahmed having to stay behind. And there we were at the exit, with Ahmed telling me in a jovial tone, “And here I am leaving while he is staying behind. Funny how life, with no warning, can suddenly flip around.”

A Humanitarian Crisis?

Continuing the theme of a “humanitarian crisis” from the blog of a few days ago, it is already sickening to hear these constant claims from Hamas of the problems and shortages in the Gaza Strip. At every opportunity the Western media is being taken for a ride by the problems of Hamas’s own makings. Their complaints are getting sufficient attention from organizations such as Amnesty International, Terje Larsson, the BBC ad nauseum.

The facts on the ground are actually rather different. Of course the Palestinians in the Strip have got a problem but they are being used and exploited for the aims and objectives of Hamas.

The crossings into the Gaza Strip are always open UNLESS there is terrorist activity in thearea and day by day, tonnes of foods, produce, fuel, and heating oil are being transported into the Strip. Palestinian traders report stock levels of the order of 4000 tonnes, so just where is the problem?

Passage into Israel is also available for genuine hardship personal cases but we have to be cautious, our fingers have been burnt many times by terrorists abusing these border controls.

Der Spiegel in Germany http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,540689,00.html reports the story of Iman Shafii, 32, who finally became pregnant after fertility treatment. After two of the four small embryos died, the two remaining embryos became increasingly fragile. "You have to go to Israel," the doctor told her. She reached Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon just in time, giving birth on Feb. 25, by Caesarean section, to a girl, Bayan, and a boy, Faisal. Today is the first day she is permitted to hold her babies in her arms. As the tears well up in her eyes, Shafii says, "If the children had stayed in Gaza, they would not have survived."

Ironically, in Ashkelon, Shafii is encountering, for the first time, victims of the acts of terror committed by her own people. One of them is nine-year-old Yossi. A steel frame holds his left shoulder together after it was fractured by shrapnel from a rocket that landed in Sderot. "The people in Sderot are suffering just as we are in Gaza," she says.

In Beit Lahia in Gaza, her husband, Ashraf Shafii, describes how masked men repeatedly set up their rocket launchers under the cover of houses. "They shoot at Israeli civilians, which is completely unacceptable," says Shafii. "And they put us Palestinian civilians in grave danger, because the Israelis shoot back."

The Times of the UK also report on witnessing an eight-day-old Mohammed Amin El-Taian being carried across the Erez crossing to Israel by a doctor from the Gazan Ministry of Health and handed to his counterpart from Magen David Adom (MDA), the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross. Mohammed - crippled by a chest infection, and heart and gastric problems - was then transferred along with his mother to the Dana Children's Hospital in Tel Aviv, where he was to get the emergency treatment needed to save his life. MDA says that around five patients a week are transferred into Israel for treatment.

Yonni Yogadovsky, of the Israeli MDA, said, "This is an established procedure and people from the hospitals [in Gaza] and Hamas know about it. We are neighbors and it happens that we don't like each other very much. But when it comes to emergencies that save human lives, this is beyond political disputes."

Yes - The Media is at it Again!!!

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the press and media in general is constantly being used, abused and manipulated. Take, for example, the spoofs or Pallywood productions; Hamas leaders holding a government meeting by candlelight, as daylight cuts across the photo from a slit in the curtain, the so-called “Jenin Massacre”, the Mohammed al Dura case, etc., etc.!!

So many of the newspapers and TV stations are jumping on the bandwagon of deligitmising Israel.

The Guardian UK
This paper even goes so far as to blame Israel for the recent "military escalation" while in fact justifying the Palestinian missiles that led to IDF operations in Gaza in the first place. As a friend stated in a letter to the paper "publishing opinions disguised as facts is blatant dishonesty."

The papers op-ed then goes on to say “that Israel's entry into Gaza cannot possibly be a legitimate act of self-defence" but is carefull to omit the fact that to fire rockets at a sovereign nation deliberately intended to kill and injure its citizens is an act of war, for which the country under attack is entitled to defend itself.

The BBC
This organization which I have heard referred to as the “Beirut Broadcasting Corporation” or alternatively the “Baharani Broadcasting Corporation” refers constantly to “the occupation” by Israel of the Gaza Strip. According to the Oxford dictionary “To Occupy” is defined as “to enter, stay and take control of a place by military conquest or settlement.” Strange – I thought every Israeli was removed from the strip nearly 3 years ago.

British-based human rights organizations
On Thursday the above human rights organizations released a scathing report in claiming that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is at its worst point since Israel captured the territory in 1967.

It also said that hospitals are suffering from power cuts of up to 12 hours a day, and the water and sewage systems were close to collapse, with 40-50 million liters (10-12 million gallons) of sewage pouring into the sea daily.

Now just what is the $1 – 1.4 billion donated to the Palestinians yearly used for????

Conclusion

Because I have used 3 examples for the UK, it doesn’t that it is only in the UK that we see such dishonest and biased reporting. It is not for the want of trying to get the media interested in a more balanced approach - a lot attempts are going on to try to the press involved more on the Israeli problems – they are, in the main, just not interested in our side of the story.

The journalists reporting on the Palestinian “stories”, cannot or do not check up on the facts. They have to report what they are told otherwise they don’t get access to the Palestinian “stories” in the future. Those reporters who try to be fair also can have their stories “rewritten” by their local or other editors

Israel is in a conflict not of its own making – indeed it withdrew every Israeli soldier and all 9000 Israeli civilians from the Gaza Strip in its 2005 disengagement initiative. But it is forced to act in self-defense to protect itself from deliberate missile attacks on its civilians by the Hamas terrorist organization.

International law recognizes that civilian deaths and injuries may occur in lawful military operations. For an operation to be lawful it must be directed at a "legitimate military objective" and be "proportionate".

Under the Geneva Conventions, if a military objective, such as a missile launcher or weapons stockpile, is placed in the heart of a civilian area, it does not cease being a lawful military objective. The responsibility for civilian causalities arising from the 'shielding' lies with the party that deliberately placed civilians at risk.


Hamas makes no effort to comply with international law, Israel is committed to limiting itself to a lawful response. This means that, while Hamas uses civilians both as a shield and a target, Israel seeks to limit injury to civilians on both sides.

A survey of international practice undertaken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggests that the steps taken by Israel, and its approach to proportionality, correspond to, or are more stringent than, those taken by most western countries confronting similar threats.

A Humanitarian Crisis?

“If the economic sanctions that Israel has applied against the Gaza Strip in reducing fuel supplies are to be regarded as collective punishment, so should the economic sanctions that were imposed against South Africa during the apartheid years, or those against Iran today”’ writes Dan Izenberg in the Jerusalem Post.

Although there is lots of talk about cutting off supplies of electricity and fuel to Gaza and the humanitarian crisis that would result, the courts are preparing to hear this week a petitioners' request for a show-cause order to cancel the original decision.

What has actually happened thus far is that amount of gasoline allowed into Gaza had been cut from an average of 350,000-400,000 liters per week to 300,000 liters and the government is also considering a further, gradual reduction.

Diesel exports were cut from 1.4 million liters per week to 1.2 million liters. A government spokesman stated that "according to government estimates, the amount of fuel necessary to fulfill the Gaza Strip's humanitarian needs does not amount to more than 50 percent of the amount supplied today, and this is a conservative estimate which provides a significant safety margin."

The spokesman added that the export of diesel for use in Gaza's power station had been reduced from an average of 2.2 million liters to 1.75 million per week. It said that in September, the Palestinians in Gaza had added a third turbine to provide additional power. When only two turbines operate, the power station produces 55 megawatts of electricity. When the third one functions, supply goes up to 63 megawatts. The drop in diesel exports imposed by Israel last week means that the amount of electricity provided for Gaza will return to the pre-September level.

All in all, hardly a humanitarian crisis but meanwhile at least one woman was suffering from shock after three Kassam rockets were fired at Sderot late Sunday morning, Israel Radio reported. One of the rockets hit a house and another hit an electrical line, causing a complete blackout in the western Negev town.

The siren system and 106 emergency hotline were offline following the attack, leaving the town's residents without even the means to prepare in case another rocket salvo would follow later in the day.

And so the deliberate targeting of the Israeli civilians goes on.

Co Existence in the Holyland

I am often asked about the schemes for cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians and as usual I believe these are never reported in the International media. Therefore I take the opportunity to publish details of the few of these organisations with thanks to the Israeli foreign Office for the information

The Israel / Palestinian issue is all too often portrayed solely in terms of the conflict, with little coverage of life beyond the politics. But there are many examples of groups and individuals who have taken up the challenge of fostering coexistence between all peoples in the region. They are just the tip of the iceberg, and there are many more organisations which work towards bringing people together, with the shared goal of breaking down barriers and stereotypes, and building bridges and understanding.

The Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development (CJAED) which is a is a non-profit organisation, established in 1988 by a group of Jewish and Arab businesspeople, with the overarching belief that healthy economic development and relations, are key to peace and stability in the region.

Shemesh, the organisation for Jewish-Arab Friendship and Coexistence in the Galilee. Shemesh works to nurture understanding and respect for cultural differences, and build towards a peaceful future for all peoples.

Givat Haviva, is an institute aimed at educating for peace, democracy, coexistence and social solidarity; to resist racism and all forms of discrimination, crucial to achieving peace between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab states.

Save A Child's Heart, which provides urgently needed pediatric heart surgery and follow-up care for children from around the world, regardless of race or religion.

The Abraham Fund initiatives work to advance coexistence, equality and cooperation among Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens by creating and operating large-scale initiatives, cultivating strategic grassroots projects and conducting public education and advocacy that promote its vision of shared citizenship and opportunity for all of Israel’s citizens. Typical programs are
Coexistence Network- A national network of organizations that address Arab-Jewish relations
Police-Community- efforts to improve police - Arab communities relations
Government Training & Advocacy- equal opportunities for Israel's Arab citizens

The Network of Organizations For Jewish-Arab Coexistence In Israel . Its mission is in recognizing the profound need to deepen and develop links between Arabs and Jews in Israel, as well as the immediate necessity to create an equal, pluralistic, just and fair society for all of the country’s citizens, both Jews and Arabs, the Network of Organizations for Jewish-Arab Coexistence in Israel was established.

Peaceworks is a not-only-for-profit company. We have proven that we can build and sustain a profitable company AND do a little good in the world.
Together with people striving to co-exist, we create and deliver unique and exciting specialty foods- only the freshest ingredients, always all-natural, always delicious.
PeaceWorks currently does business with Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, South Africans, Turks, Indonesians and Sri Lankans.

Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is a cooperative village of Jews and Palestinian Arabs of Israeli citizenship. The village is situated equidistant from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

Neve Shalom - Wahat al-Salam gives practical expression to its vision of an egalitarian society through pioneering educational work at The School for Peace, Children’s Educational System and Pluralistic Spiritual Centre. Besides its educational work, NSWAS and its members also conduct other projects such as Humanitarian aid program. Occasionally, summer programs are offered for overseas guests.

Shevet Achim was founded in 1994 with the purpose of helping non-Israeli children receive lifesaving medical care in Israel. Our name is taken from the Hebrew of Psalm 133, which promises that unity between brothers leads to life; we believe this to be true of the troubled relationship between Isaac and Ishmael (Jews and Muslims) in the Middle East.

Humanitarian Aid is still getting through to Gaza

There are many misconceptions about the aid the Palestinians in Gaza are receiving. In spite of the many difficulties im[posed by Hamas, various crossing points are being used to get essential supplies into Gaza.
- The Erez Crossing: still operates keeping a low profile. It usually serves for the passage of individuals, and is used by Palestinian civilians and foreign nationals with special advance authorization (primarily for those given humanitarian consideration).
- The Karni Crossing: opens and closes periodically. The volume of merchandise passing through it has decreased significantly. Mostly grain passes through.
- The Nahal Oz Crossing: open. Fuel and gas pass through.
- The Sufa Crossing: open. The crossing continues as the main conduit for merchandise and foodstuffs into the Gaza Strip (2,847 trucks have passed though since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip).
- The Kerem Shalom Crossing: opens and closes periodically. Four hundred and twenty trucks have passed through since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip

Humanitarian Aid to the Palestinians

I know this is not exactly in line with the purpose of this blog but with all the talk of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, I have to wonder if the information I just received today of the amount of aid shipped into Gaza yesterday 27th June is publicised around the world. Thought it worth posting. Note particularly the last paragraph.


Despite the volatile security situation in the Gaza Strip, the IDF is continuing its efforts to provide a response to humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip.
Throughout the day the following humanitarian aid was transferred from Israel into Gaza through the Sufa crossing with the coordination of the Gaza District Coordination and Liaison Office:
· 581 tons of animal feed
· 319 tons of straw
· 327 tons of sugar
· 164 tons of flour
· 5 tons of semolina
· 143,000 liters of oil
· 134 tons of rice
· 27 tons of seedlings
· 32 tons of salt
· 30 tons of baby formula
· 24,000 liters of hypochlorite (a water purifier)

In addition, 24 trucks of humanitarian aid were transferred through the Kerem Shalom crossing. 50,000 vaccinations were transferred through the Erez crossing and 22 Palestinians were taken for medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.