Jerusalem – After months of preparations and joint meetings, the ultra-Orthodox Israeli emergency response organization ZAKA has completed a three-day training course with dozens of Palestinian and Israeli volunteers, focusing on readiness for natural disasters.
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“Natural disasters hurt everyone and do not differentiate between races and nations,” said Dr. Akram Amro, Director of the Green Land Society for Health Development (GLSHD), a Palestinian organization set to improve health services in the Palestinian Territories which helped coordinate the sessions together with ZAKA.
“Similarly, all residents of this area need to be united in order to help and aid each other no matter their religion or nationality. We cannot rely on others in these situations.”
The unusual collaborative sessions, initiated by the Ministry of Regional Cooperation, were held from Tuesday to Thursday, April 5-7. The goal was to improve their technical and operational abilities so that they are able to administer first aid and treatment to victims of natural disasters.
Aside from dealing with acts of God, ZAKA teams—made up of predominantly ultra-Orthodox Jews—are often the first to arrive at the scene of terrorist attacks and perform the gruesome work of collecting and identifying body parts.
The joint Israeli-Palestinian project is the result of a common view that such training is necessary to save lives in the event of an earthquake, participants explained.
“I am more than happy with the collaboration between ZAKA and the Green Land Society,” said Dr. Amro. “This course is the a harbinger of future humanitarian collaborative projects with ZAKA.”
Mati Goldstein, head of the ZAKA International Rescue Unit, led the training based on his extensive experience in international mass-casualty catastrophes, including in Haiti, Japan, the Philippines, and Nepal.
“I believe that every official responsible for a municipal area should be familiar with these issues in order to save lives, ensure dignified handling of the deceased, and reorganize after a devastating disaster,” he said.
Yehuda Meshi Zahav, ZAKA’s founder, said his organization “places great importance on establishing joint units with our regional neighbors.”
“We learned in countless disasters worldwide that most victims are rescued by local residents rather than rescue units, which only arrive later,” added Meshi Zahav. “This is why as many civilians as possible should be trained in basic rescuing. ZAKA’s status as an international organization recognized by the United Nations enables the collaborations with Palestinians and regional neighbors.”