27-Jan-10: Saving lives, getting criticized: same old same old

The Jerusalem Post's Shmuel Rosner hits the nail on the head with blog comments addressing the nonsensical and offensive criticism of Israel's successful efforts to save lives in Haiti.

Some excerpts (the whole article is here):

Here's the Electronic Intifada criticizing the media for its positive spin of this humanitarian effort: "A few media outlets have pointed out the discrepancies in Zionist self-congratulation".

And the estimable NYT showing very little understanding of Israel's true feelings by claiming that "Israelis have been watching with a range of emotions, as if the Haitian relief effort were a Rorschach test through which the nation examines itself. The left has complained that there is no reason to travel thousands of miles to help those in need - Gaza is an hour away". "Range of emotions" meaning what? That 99% support the effort and 1% complain about Gaza? That 99% feel proud about this humanitarian effort and 1% feel the need to politicize even the simplest act of compassion and demonstrate, yet again, that they've lost their collective minds?

Anyway. Since this the why-Haiti-but-not-Gaza nonsense is gaining traction, maybe some reminders are necessary. Here we go:

1. Because Haitians never bombed Israeli towns.
2. Because the government of Haiti never declared that it wanted Israel to be eliminated.
3. Because no Haitian suicide bomber was caught trying to reach an Israel bus stop of cafe.
4. Because while Gazans' suffering should not be belittled, I don't remember any report claiming that 100,000 Gazans are dead because of Israeli blockade. Not even the Goldstone report.
5. Because it's easier sending rescue workers and doctors in uniform into a place in which Israelis in uniform are well received.
6. Because no Israeli soldier is being kept hostage in Haiti, and there's no standing Haitian demand for the release of hundreds of terrorists from Israeli jails.
7. Because Haiti had no way of stopping the earth-quake and the government of Gaza can easily make life better for its people by changing course.

CNN, reporting from the devastated eartrhquake zone on Day 6, pointed out that no one other than the Israelis, had managed to get a properly functioning hospital clinic together in Haiti as of the day of the report. The Israelis, and only the Israelis, were out there successfully leveraging medicine and humanitarian values to save lives.

Skeptics are welcome to step into any Israeli hospital (any one - without exception) and walk into the pediatric ward. From our experience (unfortunately we have a lot of that), many and often most of the children and families getting the benefit of world-class Israeli medicine are Arabs. No Israeli, whether Arab or Jew, thinks this is odd.