News and Press Releases

American Israelis Applaud Israel's "Disproportinate" Aid in Haiti Disaster

The American Israeli Action Coalition (AIAC) today announced that its members are justifiably "extremely proud" of the State of Israel's overwhelming response to the Haiti earthquake disaster.

AIAC is a non-partisan, non-political, issue-oriented NGO which whose purpose is to represent the united voice of the more than 250,000 American citizens living in Israel on issues that affect Israel, Israel-U.S. relations, and the Jewish people worldwide.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake which devastated Haiti last week caused huge havoc in that country. Tens of thousands died. Additional thousands were trapped in demolished buildings. Many more thousands were severely injured or rendered seriously ill and in desperate need of medical assistance.

Harvey Schwartz, AIAC Chairman, stated that "notwithstanding the almost total absence of Israelis or Jews in Haiti, the State of Israel rushed a fully equipped field hospital, highly trained search and rescue teams and a team of its world famous ZAKA volunteers halfway around the world to offer urgently needed humanitarian aid. The Israeli teams were among the first to arrive in the stricken country and the trained volunteers immediately joined the effort to assist. The Zaka volunteers and search and rescue teams rescued tens of trapped victims. Israel's medical teams treated hundreds in need of medical assistance."

"Perhaps the most poignant incident concerned the Haitian mother whose newborn baby was successfully delivered by an Israeli medical team. In gratitude, the mother named her new son ‘Israel' ," continued Schwartz.

"Although a microscopically small country with a population of little more than 7 million, Israel has always been among the first to assist in world catastrophes, be it an earthquake in Mexico City or a tsunami in Asia," declared AIAC's Executive Director Aaron Tirschwell. "This is in keeping with the Jewish imperative of ‘Tikkun Olam' (repairing the world)."

"Israel has often been accused (unjustly) of using ‘disproportionate force' in defending itself against terrorist attacks by its enemies. Israel's showing of 'disproportionate humanitarian assistance' in the face of this devastating catastrophe should cause such critics to re-think their baseless allegations," continued Chairman Schwartz. "They might also reflect on the significance of the absence of any humanitarian assistance offered by Israel's foes."