Memo to Palestine: Gaza is no Haiti

Dubai-based columnist Aijaz Zaka Syed recently penned an op-ed that appeared in multiple publications claiming that Israel was hypocritical for sending medical teams to earthquake-ravaged Haiti while ignoring the plight of Gazans.

“If the Israelis have reached out to the Haitians by swiftly dispatching a medical team, it’s laudable,” he wrote. “But why those moved by a tragedy on the other side of the world can’t see what’s been happening right under their noses for years?”

Syed also mentioned the “plane-loads of relief and aid supplies” that Arab and Muslim countries have sent, suggesting that the lack of publicity is not known because Arab countries are not particularly media-savvy.

While Turkey has dispatched a mobile hospital, two ambulances with drivers, two check-up devices, a 20-member relief team, and 10 tons of medicine and medical equipment to the country, in addition to making a financial contribution, not everyone is satisfied with the immediate response to the earthquake from Arab states. The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translated Palestinian scholar Khaled Hroub’s Al-Hayat article on January 23, which is 11 days after the earthquake struck, in which he scolded the Arab world for not doing more. Hroub wrote, “All [we have seen] is some symbolic aid extended by charity organizations and semi-governmental organizations in Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, and Lebanon. These organizations' missionary and da'wa rhetoric is confined to helping Muslims, and they seem to respond only to Muslim pain. The pain of non-Muslims does not merit a reaction ... The raucous statements and missionary and revolutionary rhetoric [of these organizations] seem to be in inverse proportion to their actions.”

In contrast, the Israel Defense Forces’ strong commitment to disaster relief is unambiguous and dates back to 1953. The IDF has provided rescue and recovery operations, as well as hospital services and identification of human remains on numerous occasions, such as in the wake of the 1998 terrorist bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi, the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami on Christmas Day 2004, and New Orleans in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina. Israel even offered immediate assistance to Iran following the tragic earthquake in Bam in 2003, but the Islamic Republic refused. In Haiti, a military medical and rescue team established a field hospital and began treating earthquake-stricken Haitians within four days of the earthquake. (Of course, Israeli civilians are also involved. For example, volunteer doctors, nurses, post-trauma experts, and logistics planners from throughout Israel traveled to Port-au-Prince to provide assistance.)

Accordingly, it is no wonder that Israel’s activities receive media attention.

Most Turks are aware of the IDF’s work in response to the Izmit earthquake in August 1999 that claimed at least 17,000 lives. On the same day of that tragedy, relief workers arrived in the affected areas, set up and installed a field hospital comprising two hospital wards for adults and children, an isolation room, operating room, x-ray facility, two clinics, and medical equipment. The field hospital that the IDF operated in Adapazari treated 1,200 injured, performed 40 operations, and assisted with 15 births. Israel would provide similar assistance a few months later after a second major tremor.

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit commented at the time, “From the first moment after the earthquake, we found Israel in all her power by our side. I want to express my gratitude to all of the Jewish people for their support.''

Contrary to Syed’s baseless accusations, Haiti is no Gaza.

Well over 200,000 Haitian men, women, and children perished in this natural disaster of epic proportions. Furthermore, the Haitian government has not unambiguously and repeatedly declared its intention to destroy Israel and kill Jews.

As for Gaza, Israel unilaterally withdrew from the territory in 2005. The following year, the Hamas terrorist organization forcibly evicted the Palestinian Authority. Since gaining control, Hamas has deliberately targeted Israeli towns and villages with thousands of rocket and mortar strikes. As Atlantic magazine columnist Jeffrey Goldberg mused, “Perhaps there's a reason that the welfare of Gaza is not uppermost in the hearts of the average Israeli.”

Moreover, the Hamas leadership and its militants have sought shelter in residential buildings, mosques, and schools, acts that intentionally put civilians in harm’s way. After years of restraint, Israel responded in December 2008 with a three-week military operation that sought to end the wanton attacks while limiting civilian casualties. Curiously, Syed neglects to note too that the Egyptian border crossing with Gaza is also closed off; in fact, Egypt is building a deep, steel wall along the border to eliminate smuggling tunnels.

Despite all of these deterrents, Israel continues to transport supplies to Palestinians in Gaza through its border crossings into the Gaza Strip. According to the Israel Project, approximately 725,000 tons of humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza from January 2009 until January 2010, representing a 900 percent increase from 2008. Moreover, over 10,000 Gazans entered Israel for medical and humanitarian reasons between January and November 2009.

In coming to the aid of millions of Haitians affected by the earthquake, Israel is simply following a millennia-long Jewish tradition of tzedakah – that is, charity rooted in justice. In contrast, Gaza remains a war zone, courtesy of the theocratic thugs who rule the territory. Unfortunately, Syed and his fellow travelers refuse to acknowledge the difference.

Jason Epstein is President of Southfive Strategies, LLC, in Washington, DC. He may be reached via e-mail at feedback@southfive.com.