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February 21, 2003/Adar1 19 5763, Vol. 55, No. 26
Americans volunteer to help Israel in crisis
RACHEL POMERANCE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - Phillip Miller calls it his "hot war" list.
And in one week, he has enlisted seven American Jews to aid Israel at a time of need.
The 75-year old New Jerseyan is recruiting vol-unteers to jet to Israel if an American war with Iraq brings an attack on the Jewish state.
"If a hot war breaks out and Iraq starts messing with Israel in any way, shape or form, then I and the others will probably be on the first plane we can get to Israel," Miller said.
As an American war on Iraq appears imminent, some U.S. Jews anticipate a repeat performance of America's 1991 Gulf War with Iraq, when Saddam Hussein lobbed Scud missiles into the thick of Tel Aviv.
At the time, Israel abided by America's request not to strike back.
But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has stated Israel might not take another round of attacks lying down.
In any case, many American Jews and American Jewish organizations are responding to the threat of a U.S. war on Iraq by trying to fortify Israel. The efforts include shoring up Israel's blood supply, ready- ing volunteer doctors and assembling gas masks.
In the past few weeks, American Red Magen David for Israel, the U.S. organization supporting Magen David Adom, Israel's equivalent of the Red Cross, has stepped up its activities.
Among its efforts, it has funded additional security at Israel's blood banks, fearing they could be targeted; and trained Israeli paramedics and bought them armored vests.
The group encourages solidarity missions in Israel to donate blood to Magen David Adom, in some cases shuttling bloodmobiles to groups' hotels.
It has also brokered a deal with the American Red Cross to enable Americans to designate donated blood for Israel. And this week, the American group was mailing 400,000 letters to its contributors, asking for funds in case of war.
At the American Physicians Fellowship for Medicine in Israel, each time the gov-ernment or media broadcasts a message of war, "our phones don't stop ringing," said Barbara Samulevich, the group's executive director.
The group, which runs a program for American doctors to cover for Israeli civilian doctors who are called for military duty, has a registry of 800 physicians. Several of them, Samulevich said, are constantly calling the group to ensure their documents have been received and approved.
While Israel's Ministry of Health has not yet called for any doctors, the group is organizing its paperwork to be prepared for when they are needed.
In the last four months, it has directed more than 100 American doctors to Israel for weeklong trainings with the Ministry of Health.
Phone calls have increased from five per day over the course of the intifada to 10 to 15 per day in the last few months, Samulevich said. But she added that the group is "fueling that fire" by publicizing its Emergency Medical Volunteers program to other Jewish agencies and with articles in the Jewish Medical Journal.
During the last few months, the U.S.-based Volunteers for Israel has also seen an increased demand by Americans eager to assist Israel in crisis. Atop its regular two- or three-week stints for volunteers to aid army bases or hospitals, the group, known as Sar-El in Israel, has added a special one-week program to assemble gas masks.
"Just as during the Gulf War, the number of vol-unteers who went through us increased, so now we are getting a lot of volunteers who are anxious to go to Israel to help out because they know they're needed now," said Jeanne Schacter, the national president of Volunteers for Israel.
Not everyone, of course, feels comfortable going to Israel if war with Iraq occurs.
The threat of war "raises a level of concern, and it's another consideration," said Bernard Shapiro, 53, a dis-ability attorney in Stamford, Conn.
Shapiro has hoped to return to volunteer for Israel since his first participation in Volunteers for Israel in June 2002.
He knows the likelihood of being hit by a Scud missile is slim. Still, Shapiro says he worries about his res-ponsibility to his two children and wonders if "perhaps there is some more useful thing I can do on this side of the ocean."
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