An interesting series of reports are emerging with Hamas being blamed by Saudi Arabia.
Last Thursday, Saudi Arabia actually blamed Hamas for Israel's continuing offensive in the Gaza Strip and urged it to resolve bitter differences with the western-backed Palestinian Authority – even as divisions deepened with a new charge of treachery.Arab League foreign ministers meeting in emergency session in Cairo warned it was not possible to help until the Islamist movement in control of Gaza returned to national unity talks with its rival Fatah.
A furious Hamas attacked the Arab League stance as "pathetic". Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum also accused Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, of ordering members of Fatah in Gaza to gather intelligence on the whereabouts of Hamas leaders to passto Israel - a grave charge that underscores the deep rift between the factions.
Meantime the Hamas government has placed dozens of Fatah members under house arrest out of fear that they might exploit the current IDF operation to regain control of the Gaza Strip, reports Khaled Abu Tomeh in the Jerusalem Post.
Fatah officials in Ramallah are saying that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken.
Wisam Abu Jalhoum, a Fatah activist from the Jabalya refugee camp, was shot in the legs by Hamas militiamen for allegedly expressing joy over the IDF air strikes on Hamas targets.
“Hamas is very nervous, because they feel that their end is nearing,” a senior Fatah official said. “They have been waging a brutal campaign against Fatah members in the Gaza Strip.”
Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had “executed” more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations.
Since the war started last weekend 417 rockets and mortars landed in Israel including 61 Grad rockets.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Conversation with Egyptian via Internet
The following conversation was sent to me by a friend who communicates via the internet with a friend in Egypt.
(Lobby): can i ask you something
(Me): always
(Lobby): what do you think about what is going on in Gaza now?
(Me): unfortunate, but necessary so long as a terrorist organisation like Hamas is in control
(Lobby): do you think it is necessary even at the cost of lives in the hundreds half of them women and kids .. bombing houses civil offices and schoold by sea and air ??
(Me): ours is a defensive operation, let the Hamas come out in the open, and not hide behind the civilians. What have our civilains done do deserve daily rocket attacks ? Put yourself in our shoes and offer a different solution
(Lobby): i would certainly not think of bombing houses with F-16 ..
(Me): even if that is where the chief of operations has his headquarters, with arsenals of weapons in the buiding?
(Lobby): just jow many chief of operations are there ?? and in how many houses ?? mosques? schools ?? public buildings ?? still .. does it justify killing the civilians surrounding that ...
(Lobby): chief ?? in the hundreds .. wounded in the thousands ??
(Me): I saw the hadith that he issued to his followers, that wives and children must stay with the fighters. What type of instruction is that? Did the Egyptian army ever operate out of civialian centres? never !!!
(Lobby): i dont know why you call these instructions "hadith" .. but assuming that is the case it still does not justify all that cold blood murder going on for over a week now
(Me): it is not cold blooded murder in my eyes, it is self defense. We should be allowed to live in peace, and that is not happening. Hamas just doesn't want us there, no matter what we do
(Lobby): i can not sleep at nights .. knowing that children are left homeless in that cold living in terror .. hamas may be tagged as terrorist .. but the casaulities are people like you and me .. and they are in the hundreds and hundreds .. the stupid fools of hamas costed the lives of less then 10 israelies in the past 8 years ..
(Me): Israel has to destroy Hamas' capabilty to continue shooting rockets at our cities and traumatising millions of people. It's not a question of maths. Do you have a concrete suggestion?
(Lobby): yes .. destroy Hamas .. i am with you .. but spare the lives of innocent civilians
(Lobby): bye now .. i have to go
(Lobby): can i ask you something
(Me): always
(Lobby): what do you think about what is going on in Gaza now?
(Me): unfortunate, but necessary so long as a terrorist organisation like Hamas is in control
(Lobby): do you think it is necessary even at the cost of lives in the hundreds half of them women and kids .. bombing houses civil offices and schoold by sea and air ??
(Me): ours is a defensive operation, let the Hamas come out in the open, and not hide behind the civilians. What have our civilains done do deserve daily rocket attacks ? Put yourself in our shoes and offer a different solution
(Lobby): i would certainly not think of bombing houses with F-16 ..
(Me): even if that is where the chief of operations has his headquarters, with arsenals of weapons in the buiding?
(Lobby): just jow many chief of operations are there ?? and in how many houses ?? mosques? schools ?? public buildings ?? still .. does it justify killing the civilians surrounding that ...
(Lobby): chief ?? in the hundreds .. wounded in the thousands ??
(Me): I saw the hadith that he issued to his followers, that wives and children must stay with the fighters. What type of instruction is that? Did the Egyptian army ever operate out of civialian centres? never !!!
(Lobby): i dont know why you call these instructions "hadith" .. but assuming that is the case it still does not justify all that cold blood murder going on for over a week now
(Me): it is not cold blooded murder in my eyes, it is self defense. We should be allowed to live in peace, and that is not happening. Hamas just doesn't want us there, no matter what we do
(Lobby): i can not sleep at nights .. knowing that children are left homeless in that cold living in terror .. hamas may be tagged as terrorist .. but the casaulities are people like you and me .. and they are in the hundreds and hundreds .. the stupid fools of hamas costed the lives of less then 10 israelies in the past 8 years ..
(Me): Israel has to destroy Hamas' capabilty to continue shooting rockets at our cities and traumatising millions of people. It's not a question of maths. Do you have a concrete suggestion?
(Lobby): yes .. destroy Hamas .. i am with you .. but spare the lives of innocent civilians
(Lobby): bye now .. i have to go
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Wake Up World - Israel is Fighting for You
I met an Israeli journalist at a conference recently who writes letters to a Los Angeles community. His latest letter to my mind explains why this war in Gaza is part of a much wider campaign by Iran and their allies which will ultimately affect the whole world unless, together with world support of Israel's actions in Gaza, we ultimately destroy Hamas.
I therefore think it is worth spreading his message as widely as possible. I reproduce here part of his letter, if you want to read it all, go to
http://web.me.com/bussel/Site/ISRAEL/Entries/2008/12/31_Israel_-_operation_cast_lead_-_The_counter_is_ticking.html
Over the last four days here in Israel, not everyone is participating or even feeling a war. Life proceeds on its tracks to those outside the ever expanding radii of the rockets and mortar. The line is currently drawn at a marathon distance of 26 miles. The opposition to Israel's attempt at sanity – defending its own citizens from an ongoing collective punishment – has been met with fierce [verbal] fighting the world over.
The Gaza War now involves the whole world – people are demonstrating, participating in online groups, writing letters to the editor, discussing articles. Soon, Jews, Israelis and Americans and Jewish, Israeli and American symbols will be targeted. We all take part in this war.
The Gaza War is not about the rockets precision-aimed toward Israeli towns and cities. Neither is it about a soldier who has been held in captivity in Gaza for 920 days. The Gaza War is a war on public opinion in the Public Diplomacy Front. It is a war of Islam against the West, and countries are taking sides.
The Gaza War is that of Iran against the West, with the first pawn – Hamas – being tested. Iran sits in the background and waits. Gazans object to the war. They are held hostage by Hamas which has no value for human lives and uses the Gazans as human shields, as elements in the soup it brews.
Hamas uses pictures of body parts, does not take the injured child to the hospital before the cameras arrive, places children in and around their headquarters, explosive labs and ammunition caches, talks about a siege and human sufferings and humanitarian crisis (any connection to reality may be ignored) and thus distorts the world. A false image is created and any arguments to the contrary fall on deaf ears. -[thus is the world media gullible and not objective]
For Israel to win the war, the world will have to realize it is not a single operation, the Palestinians are not the victims, the true target is the world itself.
Wake up world, Israel is fighting for you.
I therefore think it is worth spreading his message as widely as possible. I reproduce here part of his letter, if you want to read it all, go to
http://web.me.com/bussel/Site/ISRAEL/Entries/2008/12/31_Israel_-_operation_cast_lead_-_The_counter_is_ticking.html
Over the last four days here in Israel, not everyone is participating or even feeling a war. Life proceeds on its tracks to those outside the ever expanding radii of the rockets and mortar. The line is currently drawn at a marathon distance of 26 miles. The opposition to Israel's attempt at sanity – defending its own citizens from an ongoing collective punishment – has been met with fierce [verbal] fighting the world over.
The Gaza War now involves the whole world – people are demonstrating, participating in online groups, writing letters to the editor, discussing articles. Soon, Jews, Israelis and Americans and Jewish, Israeli and American symbols will be targeted. We all take part in this war.
The Gaza War is not about the rockets precision-aimed toward Israeli towns and cities. Neither is it about a soldier who has been held in captivity in Gaza for 920 days. The Gaza War is a war on public opinion in the Public Diplomacy Front. It is a war of Islam against the West, and countries are taking sides.
The Gaza War is that of Iran against the West, with the first pawn – Hamas – being tested. Iran sits in the background and waits. Gazans object to the war. They are held hostage by Hamas which has no value for human lives and uses the Gazans as human shields, as elements in the soup it brews.
Hamas uses pictures of body parts, does not take the injured child to the hospital before the cameras arrive, places children in and around their headquarters, explosive labs and ammunition caches, talks about a siege and human sufferings and humanitarian crisis (any connection to reality may be ignored) and thus distorts the world. A false image is created and any arguments to the contrary fall on deaf ears. -[thus is the world media gullible and not objective]
For Israel to win the war, the world will have to realize it is not a single operation, the Palestinians are not the victims, the true target is the world itself.
Wake up world, Israel is fighting for you.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
These are the cowards we have to fight
According to YNET, (http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3647934,00.html) the head ofIsraeli's intelligence reported today that Hamas terrorists are hiding in hospitals and maternity wards, wearing the clothes of doctors and nurses.
They are moving rocket launchers into crowded residential neighborhoods, and thus their success in shooting over 45 rockets into Israeli towns this morning alone.
The difficulty of rooting out terrorists who hide behind newborn babies and cancer patients is hard for a civilized country like Israel to deal with. Israel allowed 100 truckloads of medical supplies and basic fooditems to enter Gaza yesterday, along with five new ambulances donated byTurkey. This morning, the Gazans requested that Israeli hospitals takein two small children injured in the hostilities. Israel allowed them in, even as Hamas continued to bomb.
They are moving rocket launchers into crowded residential neighborhoods, and thus their success in shooting over 45 rockets into Israeli towns this morning alone.
The difficulty of rooting out terrorists who hide behind newborn babies and cancer patients is hard for a civilized country like Israel to deal with. Israel allowed 100 truckloads of medical supplies and basic fooditems to enter Gaza yesterday, along with five new ambulances donated byTurkey. This morning, the Gazans requested that Israeli hospitals takein two small children injured in the hostilities. Israel allowed them in, even as Hamas continued to bomb.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Two hospitals - both the same side of the coin
In Ashkelon’s Barzilai’s underground children’s ward, sick Gazans lay alongside sick Israelis as a clown hopped around trying to coax smiles from them all.
A senior doctor said that his facility has close ties with Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, and accepts many of its patients who need treatment the Gazan hospital cannot provide. He said it isn’t uncommon to have a colleague in Gaza call him for assistance even as rockets rain down on Ashkelon.
“It might seem completely absurd”, he said. “But we have the privilege of being doctors. Our medical ethics do not distinguish between patients. We treat whoever needs to be treated.”
A Gaza woman, whose two-month old granddaughter was being treated for an unidentified ailment, wept when asked how she was coping. She said she was fortunate her grand-daughter was getting the best medical treatment but was worried about her daughter and other grandchildren in Gaza City.
“I am very sad and hurt,” she said in Arabic. “We want peace, not wars.” She refused to identify herself or have her picture taken for fear of retribution if her presence in Israel was discovered in Gaza.
A few doors down in the maternity ward, 23 year old Keren Shaltiel was resting after giving birth to her second child. She said hearing sirens and exploding rockets outside while in labour was bizarre.
Meanwhile, another hospital about 150 miles northeast of Gaza is “also feeling the effects of what’s happening down south”, said a friend who wrote to me. He writes “Since Israel decided to deal with a mortal threat to its citizens, some Arab citizens of Israel have chosen to riot. One must question, what are they angry about? That Israel and the Jews have once again been forced to defend themselves or the fact that we dare to do so?”
“The Medical Center once again finds itself at the crossroad between humanity and maniacal human behavior. Since yesterday (December 28, 2008), the center has already received and treated eight casualties of Arab rioting. A couple on their way home to Afula found themselves in a maelstrom of rocks being hurled at vehicles by rioters from the Arab town of Um El Fahm (15 minutes away).
They attacked traffic on Highway 65 that connects Afula to central and coastal Israel, the same road that was closed during the riots of 2000. The couple was treated in our ER. Later, two boys aged 9 & 11 from the same Arab town were rushed to EMC suffering from a near-fatal gunshot wound that barely missed their hearts. Apparently, a bullet discharged from the pistol of one of the rioters, wounding both boys who were standing nearby. Later in the day, four Border Patrol Policemen were treated here for wounds received by flying rocks. They did not shoot their attackers, even though they were armed.
The Jewish and Arab staff of the center continue to quietly mend the broken bodies that stumble or are carried through our doors. Now, with emotions stirred and extremists waiting at every corner, we have been placed on high alert. Once again, we must be ready to deal with a mass casualty event, hoping that it does not materialize. We’re heading into a cold winter, yet the temperature is rising all around us”.
A senior doctor said that his facility has close ties with Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, and accepts many of its patients who need treatment the Gazan hospital cannot provide. He said it isn’t uncommon to have a colleague in Gaza call him for assistance even as rockets rain down on Ashkelon.
“It might seem completely absurd”, he said. “But we have the privilege of being doctors. Our medical ethics do not distinguish between patients. We treat whoever needs to be treated.”
A Gaza woman, whose two-month old granddaughter was being treated for an unidentified ailment, wept when asked how she was coping. She said she was fortunate her grand-daughter was getting the best medical treatment but was worried about her daughter and other grandchildren in Gaza City.
“I am very sad and hurt,” she said in Arabic. “We want peace, not wars.” She refused to identify herself or have her picture taken for fear of retribution if her presence in Israel was discovered in Gaza.
A few doors down in the maternity ward, 23 year old Keren Shaltiel was resting after giving birth to her second child. She said hearing sirens and exploding rockets outside while in labour was bizarre.
Meanwhile, another hospital about 150 miles northeast of Gaza is “also feeling the effects of what’s happening down south”, said a friend who wrote to me. He writes “Since Israel decided to deal with a mortal threat to its citizens, some Arab citizens of Israel have chosen to riot. One must question, what are they angry about? That Israel and the Jews have once again been forced to defend themselves or the fact that we dare to do so?”
“The Medical Center once again finds itself at the crossroad between humanity and maniacal human behavior. Since yesterday (December 28, 2008), the center has already received and treated eight casualties of Arab rioting. A couple on their way home to Afula found themselves in a maelstrom of rocks being hurled at vehicles by rioters from the Arab town of Um El Fahm (15 minutes away).
They attacked traffic on Highway 65 that connects Afula to central and coastal Israel, the same road that was closed during the riots of 2000. The couple was treated in our ER. Later, two boys aged 9 & 11 from the same Arab town were rushed to EMC suffering from a near-fatal gunshot wound that barely missed their hearts. Apparently, a bullet discharged from the pistol of one of the rioters, wounding both boys who were standing nearby. Later in the day, four Border Patrol Policemen were treated here for wounds received by flying rocks. They did not shoot their attackers, even though they were armed.
The Jewish and Arab staff of the center continue to quietly mend the broken bodies that stumble or are carried through our doors. Now, with emotions stirred and extremists waiting at every corner, we have been placed on high alert. Once again, we must be ready to deal with a mass casualty event, hoping that it does not materialize. We’re heading into a cold winter, yet the temperature is rising all around us”.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Operation "Cast Lead"
Well that’s it, we are in another war. This time, unlike Lebanon in 2006, government ministers are calling it a war. With an incessant barrage of missiles on Israel’s civilian population in the south after the end of the “cease fire”, no government in the world could allow this to continue.
A friend living in a Kibbutz on the border writes
“So far we are OK. We are told to stay in a protected room and not to go outside if not necessary.
At about 10 this morning, Dec 27th, it was very quiet, when all of a sudden we hear a rolling sound outside then a thunderous boom and the whole house shook, like in a earthquake, then a second time and then a third time. After that, we heard airplanes and some more explosions.
On our beeper, which all of the homes surrounding Gaza have, we were told what has happened and we were told to stay inside.
A Moshav which is not to far from here but out of rocket range has opened up rooms for all of us who want to leave. We have been invited to family to stay with them and some friends of mine who live up North also invited us. We are staying as most of the families are also staying, those with children might want to send their children, if we still have children at home, we might be doing that also.
The whole area is under military rule and no one who does not live in this area are not allowed through.
The air strikes helps but we still need to go in. Israel surprised Hamas and us also, because they and us, did not think that Israel would strike on Sabbath. So the leaders of Hamas came out of hiding until Sunday and it cost them.
Our TV stations are all broadcasting nothing but what happened today in Gaza. Alon's (my son for those of you who do not know) reserve unit but not Alon so far, have been called up.
What night will bring and at 5:30 PM it is already dark, I do not know, but we for the first time are thinking of putting a mattress in our security room to sleep tonight.
If the army tells us to leave, I will volunteer to stay on the kibbutz and work in the dairy farm, life goes on with the livestock. They have to be fed and milked and calves are born.
Will let you know what happens when it happens. “
Another conversation 24 hours later with a resident of Sderot raises a surprising comment. “In Sderot, there is quiet, the missiles are targeting communities further afield” And so it is today that very very missiles actually landed in and around Sderot.
Nevertheless, revenge attacks abroad are feared. It is certainly reasonable to assume that Hamas and the organizations operating under its auspices will now attempt to turn the lives of southern Israel residents into hell, both due to a desire for revenge as well as an attempt to create a strategic equation, as the Hizbullah did at the end of the Second Lebanon War. Technically, Palestinian organizations in Gaza are capable of launching more than 100 rockets a day. This is of course a theoretical pace, which also depends on the actions undertaken by the IDF.
On a wider front, we can assume that Hamas will attempt to dispatch members of the group and of Islamic Jihad to carry out suicide attacks in Israel at any price, with bombers originating in the West Bank and attempting to enter Israel or target settlements.
There have been interesting reactions from world leaders, one of which from the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit surprisingly blames Hamas for war. He said "For quite some time, Egypt has been warning. Whoever tried to confuse the understanding of [ignore] this warning, must bear the responsibility.
In a statement by the Israeli Foreign Minister to the foreign press, she says "Whoever wants peace in the region, with a two-state solution, must understand that we must fight terror and extremism. Confronting Hamas is the only way for the Palestinians to enjoy a good life in a country of their own. Israel wants peace, and must operate against the Hamas in order to achieve this.
By showing one-sided footage from Gaza, you are not helping to promote peace. I understand that provocative images arouse people's rage and hostility, but we want to achieve a better future for this region. Hamas does not want peace; Hamas uses the residents of Gaza as hostages.
Israel proposes a vision of peace, while Hamas proposes a vision of war. Peace with Israel and calm in the region can only be achieved by dialogue. This situation cannot continue. Hamas, Iran and Hizbullah are enemies of the free world."
A friend living in a Kibbutz on the border writes
“So far we are OK. We are told to stay in a protected room and not to go outside if not necessary.
At about 10 this morning, Dec 27th, it was very quiet, when all of a sudden we hear a rolling sound outside then a thunderous boom and the whole house shook, like in a earthquake, then a second time and then a third time. After that, we heard airplanes and some more explosions.
On our beeper, which all of the homes surrounding Gaza have, we were told what has happened and we were told to stay inside.
A Moshav which is not to far from here but out of rocket range has opened up rooms for all of us who want to leave. We have been invited to family to stay with them and some friends of mine who live up North also invited us. We are staying as most of the families are also staying, those with children might want to send their children, if we still have children at home, we might be doing that also.
The whole area is under military rule and no one who does not live in this area are not allowed through.
The air strikes helps but we still need to go in. Israel surprised Hamas and us also, because they and us, did not think that Israel would strike on Sabbath. So the leaders of Hamas came out of hiding until Sunday and it cost them.
Our TV stations are all broadcasting nothing but what happened today in Gaza. Alon's (my son for those of you who do not know) reserve unit but not Alon so far, have been called up.
What night will bring and at 5:30 PM it is already dark, I do not know, but we for the first time are thinking of putting a mattress in our security room to sleep tonight.
If the army tells us to leave, I will volunteer to stay on the kibbutz and work in the dairy farm, life goes on with the livestock. They have to be fed and milked and calves are born.
Will let you know what happens when it happens. “
Another conversation 24 hours later with a resident of Sderot raises a surprising comment. “In Sderot, there is quiet, the missiles are targeting communities further afield” And so it is today that very very missiles actually landed in and around Sderot.
Nevertheless, revenge attacks abroad are feared. It is certainly reasonable to assume that Hamas and the organizations operating under its auspices will now attempt to turn the lives of southern Israel residents into hell, both due to a desire for revenge as well as an attempt to create a strategic equation, as the Hizbullah did at the end of the Second Lebanon War. Technically, Palestinian organizations in Gaza are capable of launching more than 100 rockets a day. This is of course a theoretical pace, which also depends on the actions undertaken by the IDF.
On a wider front, we can assume that Hamas will attempt to dispatch members of the group and of Islamic Jihad to carry out suicide attacks in Israel at any price, with bombers originating in the West Bank and attempting to enter Israel or target settlements.
There have been interesting reactions from world leaders, one of which from the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit surprisingly blames Hamas for war. He said "For quite some time, Egypt has been warning. Whoever tried to confuse the understanding of [ignore] this warning, must bear the responsibility.
In a statement by the Israeli Foreign Minister to the foreign press, she says "Whoever wants peace in the region, with a two-state solution, must understand that we must fight terror and extremism. Confronting Hamas is the only way for the Palestinians to enjoy a good life in a country of their own. Israel wants peace, and must operate against the Hamas in order to achieve this.
By showing one-sided footage from Gaza, you are not helping to promote peace. I understand that provocative images arouse people's rage and hostility, but we want to achieve a better future for this region. Hamas does not want peace; Hamas uses the residents of Gaza as hostages.
Israel proposes a vision of peace, while Hamas proposes a vision of war. Peace with Israel and calm in the region can only be achieved by dialogue. This situation cannot continue. Hamas, Iran and Hizbullah are enemies of the free world."
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Co-Existence, Israeli Style
I received a letter from my friend at a hospital in the North whcih again gives the example of what good relations between citizens in the area can mean and should mean. Oh, that the Gazans could learn from this.
A senior nurse who for the past eleven years has acted as the Transplant Coordinator between his hospital and the Israeli Ministry of Health’s National Transplant Center related the following story:
On November 26, 2008, a 54 year-old man was tragically pronounced brain dead here in the hospital. His wife, also a nurse at the hospital, immediately informed the transplant coordinator of her desire to donate her husband’s organs so that others may live.
Thus began intense communications between the hospital and the National Transplant Center, which culminated several hours later in coordinated operations (in several hospitals) that gave renewed life to seven Israelis. One received a liver, two received kidneys, two received heart valves and two received corneas. Among them were both Jews and Arabs; each a human being in desperate need of a medical miracle. This death gave life to others, people he never knew.
When asked what were the most emotionally-charged moments of the wife's long career as a nurse, without hesitation, she said, “The moment when a family agrees to donate their loved one’s organs to strangers. That precise instance is the most difficult moment in a person’s life … it’s the intersection where death meets life.”
The dead man, like hundreds of others, became unknowing heroes in their deaths. Their families gave the gift of renewed life to total strangers and lengthened an unbreakable thread that weaves throughout our society.
The Jewish commitment to life is exemplified the medical center’s absolute coordinated efforts between medical departments, physicians, nurses, technicians and administrative staff. The gift of life could not be delivered were it not for their combined timely efforts.
Dare we hope that one day in our lifetime the gift of life takes precedence over death as is promoted by the terrorists whose aim is to destroy Israel?
A senior nurse who for the past eleven years has acted as the Transplant Coordinator between his hospital and the Israeli Ministry of Health’s National Transplant Center related the following story:
On November 26, 2008, a 54 year-old man was tragically pronounced brain dead here in the hospital. His wife, also a nurse at the hospital, immediately informed the transplant coordinator of her desire to donate her husband’s organs so that others may live.
Thus began intense communications between the hospital and the National Transplant Center, which culminated several hours later in coordinated operations (in several hospitals) that gave renewed life to seven Israelis. One received a liver, two received kidneys, two received heart valves and two received corneas. Among them were both Jews and Arabs; each a human being in desperate need of a medical miracle. This death gave life to others, people he never knew.
When asked what were the most emotionally-charged moments of the wife's long career as a nurse, without hesitation, she said, “The moment when a family agrees to donate their loved one’s organs to strangers. That precise instance is the most difficult moment in a person’s life … it’s the intersection where death meets life.”
The dead man, like hundreds of others, became unknowing heroes in their deaths. Their families gave the gift of renewed life to total strangers and lengthened an unbreakable thread that weaves throughout our society.
The Jewish commitment to life is exemplified the medical center’s absolute coordinated efforts between medical departments, physicians, nurses, technicians and administrative staff. The gift of life could not be delivered were it not for their combined timely efforts.
Dare we hope that one day in our lifetime the gift of life takes precedence over death as is promoted by the terrorists whose aim is to destroy Israel?
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