Aid to Hurricane Katrina Victims
(September 2005)
Israel has taken an active role in supporting the victims of
Hurricane Katrina, a devistating hurricane which last
week flooded and destroyed many cities and towns in Louisiana, Mississipii,
and Alabama. On
September 5, 2005, the Israel Foreign Ministry put out
an urgent call for all businesses and organizations
to donate essential goods to the hurricane victims.
Some Israeli organizations, such as Magen
David Adom, have set up special funds with the sole
purpose of sending monetary contributions to the victims.
The
Hebrew University in Jerusalem is prepared to offer 20 or more scholarships and to
shorten the acceptance process for students from Tulane
Universtiy in New Orleans, Louisiana, which was forced
to shut down and cancel its fall semester. Tel
Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine has
offered Tulane medical students access to openings in
the school to come study medicine in Israel.
With the death toll possibly reaching in the thousands,
a non-governmental group called IsraAID (the Israel
Forum for Internation Aid) is sending a private delegation
of divers to New Orleans to search for bodies in flooded
homes. The delegation of about 25 members will be armed
with high-power flashlights to search for bodies in
the dark, contaminated waters covering New Orleans.
Previous IsraAID diving missions helped in rescue operations
after the Southeast Asian tsunami, as well as in Turkey, Georgia and Romania.
The task of finding bodies in this water is extremely
dangerous because it may have become contaminated by
chemicals, human waste, garbage and decomposing corpses.
The Bush Administration announced in mid-September
that it did not need Israeli divers and physicians to
come to the United States for search and rescue missions,
but a small team landed in New Orleans on September
10 to give assistance to operations already under way.
The team administered first aid to survivors, rescued
abandoned pets and discovered hurricane victims. Republican
and Democratic lawmakers from Louisiana applauded the
Israeli team for their efforts. Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.)
said, “The work being done by IsraAID and their
team members to help the people of Louisiana is greatly
appreciated." Rep. Charles Melancon (D-La.) said
the Israelis “performed courageously in south
Louisiana when we needed them most.”
The IsraAID assistance team was funded through a variety
of organizations. They received initial funding from
the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and the Philadelphia-based
CMS Companies, but also received support from federations
in Houston, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. National Jewish
groups, like the American Jewish Committee, American
Jewish Congress and the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee also provided financial
and logistical support.
Sources: IMRA,
Israel
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, www.israaid.org.il,
Jerusalem Post, JTA
(Sept. 27, 2005) |