Urgent Dispatch from Israel

Dear AJC Member, As I write this message, I am standing together with 40 other members of the AJC Solidarity Mission in Rambam Hospital in Haifa. The warning sirens just went off about a minute ago indicating the likelihood of another missile attack somewhere in the area. All of us have been moved to what is deemed the safest part of the hospital, which is the farthest point form the exterior walls and windows. In the meantime, the hospital staff is mobilizing once again to receive new patients resulting from the Hezbollah attacks. In the last week, they have already received dozens. We met with several of the hospitalized during our visit today, including a 70-year-old woman whose house was struck directly by a missile and two employees from the rail yard, eight of whose colleagues were killed in the missile attack on Sunday. Yesterday, we went South, visiting Nitzanim, a seaside venue that has been hastily transformed into a refugee camp for those fleeing the North. We also went to Sederot, a town of 23,000 inhabitants, just a half mile from the Gaza border. Sederot has been the target of over 600 Kassam rocket attacks during the past five years, roughly an average of two per week. Together with Israel's former minister of defense and mayor of Sederot, we visited a home directly hit by a Kassam rocket. The family, including eight children, miraculously survived with only minor injuries. We then visited an elementary school and saw the remnants of missiles that struck within a few dozen yards of the school building. All of these scenes, as you can imagine, are profoundly heart-wrenching. But I must also add that the courage, steadfastness and determination of the people we met have been extraordinarily inspiring - from the hospital staff that hasn't missed a beat in delivering emergency medical services to individuals who refuse in their daily lives to yield to fear. Each of us can do something in these exceptionally challenging times. The Israeli people are doing more than their share, more than they might ever have imagined. Are we doing our share? People here are in need. We have the power to help them. Please give as generously as you can to our Israel Emergency Assistance Fund. Empower us during this mission to bring people a message of support from fellow Jews. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Best regards, David Harris Executive Director, AJC

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