Haiti: Israeli Field Hospital Delivers 2nd Baby (UPDATED)

Mazal Tov! Lt. Col Dr. Avi Abergel, IDF Gynecologist.

Haiti Earthquake: Mother Delivers Baby In Disaster Zone - ABC News

In the wake of the worst humanitarian disaster in years, post-quake Haiti could be one of the most hostile places on earth to give birth.

I have a question for the world so-called "community": If Israel, with its political, diplomatic and economic constraints, can get out there on the ground, set up and save lives - literally - within mere hours, why is so much of the aid sent by others not getting out there to people in the street as soon?

And if that's not enough, the "racist, apartheid" state of the Jews is sending even more:

In order to assist in the ongoing rescue efforts, an additional IDF aid delegation is scheduled to depart to Haiti on Monday night (Jan. 18). The delegation will deliver relief reinforcements that include medicine and additional equipment. Upon its arrival, the delegation will examine the needs of the IDF medical staff on the scene: http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/01/1803.htm

Well said:

"The international agencies that condemn Israel for its "disproportionate response" when it is attacked are not mentioning Israel's disproportionate response to human suffering. The U.S. has pledged 100 million and sent supplies and personnel. The U.K. pledged $10 million and sent 64 firemen and 8 volunteers. China, a country with a population of 1,325,639,982 compared to Israel's 7.5 million sent 50 rescuers and seven journalists. The 25 Arab League nations sent nothing."

CNN video:
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2010/01/18/dnt.cohen.haiti.patients.dying.cnn.html

CNN: "How has Israel, a small country on the other side of the world, set up an operating field hospital in Haiti while the United States has not?" "It's a frustrating thing that I really can't explain," Harvard Medical School's Dr. Jennifer Furin said: "No one except the Israeli hospital has taken any of our patients."

As I posted on my FB page: I just don't get why this has to be so damned slow. I've reported and worked a lot with the US Army up close at Ft. Benning: Not to detract an iota from Israel - we're all damned awed and proud of them - but the US troops are also a "get it done, right, yesterday" group.

I think it's just the federal bureaucrap poseurs, and officious little protocol drones that infect the distribution system for so large a logistical operation.

On Shooting Mickey Mouse in Beirut

A very intriguing discussion in the New York Times among press shooters and editors about a series of photos taken in the aftermath of an Israeli bombing run against Hizbullah targets in Beirut during the 2006 war in Lebanon.

Read the rest:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/it-was-all-started-by-a-mouse-part-1/ War archives:

I was dealing with just these questions from the Israeli side of the border, as well.

My war archives:

• Flickerstream

• Blog Linkdump

• Audio

• Video

Jerusalem Old City Panorama (Photo)

Click the photo for a much larger image.

Jaffa Gate, a chief entrance to Jerusalem's Old City, looking towards the fading sunset, and western Jerusalem during Hanukkah, 2009.

"David's Tower" is at the left, and Jerusalem's landmark King David Hotel is seen in the distance, to the left of the menorah. (Dave Bender: All rights reserved)

Airport 'Israelification': Close Up. Personal

Canada's The Star.com has what strikes me as one of the clearest explanations of why no plane has ever been hijacked, let alone blown up, flying out of Israel.

'It is mindboggling for us Israelis to look at what happens in North America, because we went through this 50 years ago,' said Rafi Sela, the president of AR Challenges, a global transportation security consultancy. He's worked with the RCMP, the U.S. Navy Seals and airports around the world.

Here's what Flight 253 would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab would have faced had he flown out of Ben-Gurion International Airport:

"'Israelis, unlike Canadians and Americans, don't take s--- from anybody. When the security agency in Israel (the ISA) started to tighten security and we had to wait in line for — not for hours — but 30 or 40 minutes, all hell broke loose here. We said, 'We're not going to do this. You're going to find a way that will take care of security without touching the efficiency of the airport.''

"That, in a nutshell is 'Israelification' - a system that protects life and limb without annoying you to death."

Read the rest.

I know this from personal experience: on my last flight in mid December - barring hanging out at the coffee shop - it took me under half an hour to go from parking lot to departure lounge.

Triplets Join Israel Air Force

Note: Sam Orbaum and I were colleagues and friends at The Jerusalem Post newspaper. Before my own triplet children were born 16-years ago, my then wife and I visited with Sam and his wife, Wendy (Elliman) to see what raising triplets was like. We learned a lot from their experience and commonsense child rearing.

You did good, Sam, and I, and so many others, miss you. May your soul rest in peace, and derive nachat from this:

Odelia, Nomi, and Donna Orbaum

Excerpt from The Jerusalem Post:

"'The concept of 'one for all and all for one' can get pretty absurd,'wrote the late columnist Sam Orbaum about his identical triplet daughters 14 years ago.

Orbaum, who passed away in 2002 at the age of 46, wrote about life as a father of identical triplets.

Not only did he sometimes mix them up, Orbaum wrote in his well-known wry, comic style, but he was also constantly impressed by their tight bond - when for example they stood up for one another in fights in the school sandbox.

The three blond 19-year-old sisters are still sticking up for one another, although this time not on the playground but in the IDF Air Corps, in which they all enlisted a few months ago, making history.

Odelia, the oldest (born a minute before her two sisters), serves as a control officer ; Nomi is an air traffic controller; and Donna is currently in training for a different position. All three plan on attending the IDF's pestigious Office Candidate Course and extending their service for at least an additional year.

Nomi Orbaum says, "[Serving In the IDF ] is what characterizes the state."

"He supported us in everything we did until he passed away when we were 12," Donna said on how their father would feel about their serving in the IDF . "This is the seventh year since he passed away and I think about him all the time and see his smile and know that he would have been proud of us."

More about Sam here

Israeli President, YouTube Founder Launch Channel

Hurley presents President Peres with a plaque of YouTube code. (Photo: Dave Bender, All Rights Reserved)

Chad Hurley, founder and CEO of YouTube, presented Peres with a plaque featuring original coding for the YouTube site, and the two discussed opportunities for using
YouTube as a tool to foster free expression towards achieving peace. Peres talked
about the potential for peace talks with Syria and related Middle East issues.


Meeting with Hurley at The Presidential Residence.

The launch and press conference included the premier screening of the President’s
first internet message on YouTube. Hurley made a special trip to Israel for the
launch.

Photos, audio and video (yes - on YouTube and not Vimeo...) will be posted here, so
check back later today: http://www.davebrianbender.com

(Photo Series) Bustin' a Hip-Hop, Na Nach Move in Jerusalem

Bustin' a move in the holy city... (Dave Bender: All Rights Reserved)

(Photo series) Both hip-hop pop-lockers and Bratslaver hassidic youth share the street on downtown Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall.

Click over to the Flickr page below for more...

Tel Aviv is Jumpin For Joy!

'Jumpin for Joy!' Click photo for more on the series. (Dave Bender: All Rights Reserved)


'Jumpin for Joy! II' Click photo for more on the series. (Dave Bender: All Rights Reserved)

I'll be adding to this photo series of an afternoon along the Tel Aviv boardwalk, Jerusalem's Old City and pop-lockers downtown, and whatever else strikes my fancy...

Cool! More Israeli Things to Boycott!

• Israeli Invention Allows for Early Detection of Cancerous Skin Tumors - Dan Even
  A new Israeli invention allows cancerous tumors on the skin to be detected and examined before they become visible to the naked eye, Ben-Gurion University announced. The developer of the new instrument, Ofir Aharon, a doctoral student at the electrophysiological department at Ben-Gurion University, said the technology "allows manipulation of different light frequencies and adjustments to electric fields to examine skin lesions." (Ha'aretz)
• Tel Aviv University Develops New Wound Dressing with Antibiotics
  About 70% of all people with severe burns die from related infections. But a revolutionary new wound dressing developed at Tel Aviv University could cut that number dramatically. Prof. Meital Zilberman of TAU's Department of Biomedical Engineering has developed a new wound dressing based on fibers she engineered that can be loaded with drugs like antibiotics to speed up the healing process, and then dissolve when they've done their job. A study published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Applied Biomaterials demonstrates that, after only two days, this dressing can eradicate infection-causing bacteria. The new dressing protects the wound until it is no longer needed, after which it melts away. (Medical News)
• Bone Repair "Breakthrough" at Hadassah - Judy Siegel-Itzkovich
  A team at Jerusalem's Hadassah University Medical Center has managed to separate platelets and adult stem cells from the blood and bone marrow of patients with fractures and inject them - causing the bones to meld in a quarter to third of the time and repairing some breaks that would have failed to heal. (Jerusalem Post)
• Israel Water Tech Thrives in Weakened Economy - Ari Rabinovitch
  Israel's water technology sector has prospered despite the global financial crisis, largely due to global stimulus packages and penetration in developing countries, officials said on Wednesday. Water companies benefit from both infrastructure and cleantech spending, both cornerstones of stimulus packages. Water recycling company Aqwise, whose system breeds bacteria to break down organic waste, saw its sales increase 50% in 2009. (Reuters)

Correction: Univ. of Ga. Student Newspaper Revives 'Cheap Jew' Canard

(Correction: the following item is from the University of Georgia's independent student newspaper, The Red & Black, and has no connection to Emory University, as earlier, mistakenly, cited. DB)



Cartoonist Bill Richards' editorial cartoon in University of Georgia's "Red & Black," newspaper on Thursday, November 12, 2009:
http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper871/stills/s5nf7pr1.jpg

Shows two Israeli soldiers standing near a barbed-wire and fenced gate, with a sign overhead calling it "Checkpoint Chaim," reminiscent of the Berlin Wall along what could be presumed as the West Bank security barrier.

The letters, "IDF" are written on the back of one soldier, and a word bubble over the other soldier, with a Jewish star on his helmet, says:

"And to think we got all this great stuff on clearance."

Furious letters to the editor are here: http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/paper871/sections/20091113Opinions.html

From one letter, penned by several organizations:

"In the cartoon, there are three clear anti-Semitic overtones: the use of a stereotypical Jewish name in "Checkpoint Chaim", the placement of the Jewish star on the Israeli soldier's helmet and the suggestion that Jews care most about saving money in the caption.

"To the reader: What did these three references add to the political opinion of the cartoon? The slur in the caption takes an edgy, yet legitimate political cartoon and turns it into an ugly smear.
[...]
"Serving and representing the diverse community of the University of Georgia, The Red & Black should exercise extreme caution in their editorial decisions regarding race or religion, especially in the context of editorial cartoons. We call upon the leadership of The Red & Black to publish a retraction and to condemn anti-Semitism on campus."

Other angry replies are here:
http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2009/11/13/Opinions/Mailbox-3831597.shtml

The Red & Black's reply?:
http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2009/11/13/Opinions/Editors.Note.On.Editorial.Cartoon-3831602.shtml

"The Red & Black received numerous comments about Thursday's editorial cartoon.

"We would like to clarify that the cartoon was not intended to be offensive or a comment on any one religion.

"This newspaper staff would never condone that kind of hatred, and we hope students on campus stand up against it.

- The Red & Black editors"