Israeli group hopes to aid Iranian earthquake victims despite rebuff

Jerusalem Post ^ | December 29, 2003 | HILARY LEILA KRIEGER

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Despite Iran's willingness to accept aid from any country other than the "Zionist regime" of Israel, the Tel Aviv-based relief organization Latet hopes to send emergency supplies to survivors of the earthquake that ravaged the town of Bam on Friday.

"If there are many people that are starving and injured and have no place to sleep," explained Latet general manager Eran Weintrob, "we don't ask and we don't argue and we don't think about political issues. We just act. If we can act, we will."

Whether the organization will indeed be able to act in this case – by sending donations through local or international NGOs such as Oxfam and the Red Cross – should be determined Monday, according to Weintrob.

"We didn't get a no," he said of efforts to find a party to accept Israeli goods, efforts he believes will eventually be successful.

"The Iranian government said it didn't want help from Israel or the Zionist entity. But there is a huge need and the people don't care where they get the help from," he said. So far the quake's death toll has reached 15,000, and it is expected to exceed 20,000.

In fact, Iranian callers on the Voice of Israel's popular Farsi-language program Sunday "expressed their deep gratitude toward Israelis who have supported sending aid to Iran," according to program director Menashe Amir.

He added that they "harshly criticized" their leaders for rejecting the open-handed gesture.

Amir, who grew up in Iran before immigrating to Israel and is an expert on Iranian society, indicated he wasn't surprised by the Iranian government's response to Israel's desire to help.

"It's a natural consequence of the Iranian politics toward Israel. A regime that demands the extermination of the Jews and the killing of Israeli citizens and doesn't recognize our right to exist isn't ready to [receive] our help."

Besides, he pointed out, this case is hardly the first in which Iran has refused assistance from the Jewish state. When an earthquake in southern Iran killed tens of thousands of people in 1990, the country rebuffed Israeli overtures.

Amir plans to publicize contributions from Latet and other Israeli groups on his radio program so that Iranians will be aware of the "gesture of Israeli friendship."

One such group is the Umbrella Organization for Iranian Immigrants in Israel, which has contacted the Iranian Embassy in Britain about sending food, clothing, and other necessities. According to spokesman David Motei, the group received the go-ahead for contributions from "the Israeli people," but not the State of Israel, sent through intermediaries such as foreign embassies and the United Nations. The group is meeting Monday to prepare its donation.

Latet, Hebrew for "to give," won't issue an official call for such contributions before ensuring donations from Israel won't be destroyed. Already, though, dozens of Israelis eager to lend a hand have called the organization.

Weintrob listed medicine, stoves, blankets, and food as top priorities.

He said that in the nearly 10 years the organization – associated domestically with the distribution of food to the needy – has existed, it has sent delegations to 17 international disaster scenes, including Turkey.

"We're trying to promote mutual responsibility in Israeli society, and we think if we want to be a strong society, even though we are experiencing a very bad situation economically right now, we should see ourselves as part of the wider world," Weintrob said.