Disproportionate, apartheid and racist

Disproportionate, apartheid and racist. What the hell am I talking about you ask?

"Disproportionate" relates to the work that the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) has been doing in Haiti recently. It's so nice to be able to use this word in a positive light as opposed to the bad press Israel always gets in the media. The IDF arrived in Haiti about 6 days after the earthquake happened and set up the most sophisticated amazing field hospital to treat the earthquake victims. They also provided search and rescue teams that have been doing incredible work. That's not to take anything away from the other countries that have provided the same generous outpouring of help, but 2 things come to mind. Firstly, Diana and I just had the most incredible holiday in Israel and saw first hand how progressive and advanced a country Israel has become in the midst of a very hostile part of our world. Secondly, Israel is a country of 7 million people that gives and contributes so much relatively speaking. Is Israel the most perfect country in the world. The simple answer is no but I defy anyone to tell me which country is perfect. There is none.

Apartheid and racist is often how Israel is referred to in the media. I will give you my take on this. In July 2004 Michael celebrated his Barmitzvah in Israel. His project for his Barmitzvah was to donate a sizable sum of the money he received to Schneider Children's Medical center in Tel Aviv, Israel.

http://www.schneider.org.il/Eng/Index.asp?CategoryID=78&ArticleID=31

We were given a tour of the medical center back in 2004 and were simply amazed at the work the center did, and more importantly, who they treated. Back then almost 50% of the patients were Israeli Arab or Arab from one of Israels neighbors. Today things have changed somewhat. I visited Schneider's once again. This time it was to visit with 'Ben' the son of a good childhood girl (female) friend. Ben is currently being treated for a brain tumor. What a strong, brave and resilient young man he is. Ben's fellow patients now are a majority Israeli Arab or Arab from one of Israels neighbors. So I find it particularly galling when I hear people or the media referring to Israel as an apartheid regime or a racist country. Once again, show me a place on earth that does not have some form of racism. We should all look in our own backyards.

I try not to politicize or religoucize (my new word) my blog but I could not resist defending these 2 issues. I'm not an Israel apologist. It's not utopia but it is the nearest thing the Jewish people will ever freely experience.

Carpe Diem.