NEW YORK — Jewish organizations in North America are mobilizing their responses to the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday.
The ZAKA International rescue team is on its way to assist in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake last week. ZAKA assisted in the recovery in Haiti after a devastating earthquake struck the island country last January. [FLASH90 photo]
IsraAid, an Israel-based co-ordinating organization for 17 Israeli and Jewish humanitarian groups, said Friday that it has two teams of rescue personnel, emergency medical officers and water pollution specialists ready to deploy to Japan but was looking for ways to reach the affected area.
Howard English, spokesperson for UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, told The CJN on Monday that his organization had set up a donation campaign in partnership with IsraAid to send Canadian help to Japan.
Linda Kislowicz, CEO at UIA Federations Canada, confirmed that all of the Canadian federations had set up donation campaigns over the weekend, either through IsraAid or via the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Federation CJA in Montreal has partnered with JDC.
Ve’ahavta, the Toronto-based Jewish humanitarian organization, had also set up an emergency response fund in partnership with the JDC, according to its website.
Because the airports in the affected area are flooded and Tokyo-area airports closed on Friday, IsraAid said it was exploring the possibility of flying to a nearby country and then trying to make it to northeast Japan, where the tsunami has killed hundreds and devastated cities and towns.
“We’re in touch with local groups to check the situation in the area,” Shachar Zahavi, chairman of the group, told JTA in a telephone interview. “We’re trying to get to the closest airport and then get to the affected area from there.”
Chabad reported that its emissary in Tokyo said the Jewish community there largely was spared any serious injury or damage from the 8.9-magnitude quake that rocked the city Friday morning. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said late Friday that some 25 Israelis in Japan still had not contacted family or embassy officials to report on their safety.
ZAKA, the rescue and recovery organization, announced Friday that it would send a search-and-rescue team to Japan.
The UN-recognized, Israel-based ZAKA International Rescue Unit has assisted at natural disasters around the world, including Haiti – it was the first Israeli delegation to arrive on the scene – the tsunami in Thailand and the hurricane in New Orleans.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would help in whatever way possible.
The Japanese consul in Israel, Mitoshiko Shinomya, told the Israeli news website Ynet that he was heartened by the Israeli government’s offer of assistance. “Israel officially offered its help an hour after the earthquake struck,” Shinomya said. “It is very heartwarming, but at this point we do not know exactly what the extent of the damage is, so it is difficult for us to say what can be done.”
The Jewish Federations of North America set up an emergency relief fund to help those in affected areas and urged local federations to do the same. “We are determined to provide emergency relief as quickly as possible and to work with our partners to provide support over the longer term as well,” said Fred Zimmerman, chairman of the Jewish Federations’ emergency committee.
The organization said it is working with its partner the JDC, which also started a Japan/Pacific disaster relief fund, to support relief efforts.
“JDC is now conducting an up-to-the-minute assessment of the situation in Japan and the Pacific Rim and has activated its network of partners to determine critical, immediate needs of the hardest-hit areas,” the JDC said in a statement Friday.
B’nai Brith International and the Orthodox Union also established an earthquake emergency fund. A spokesperson for American Jewish World Service (AJWS), which played a leading Jewish role in responding to the massive 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated parts of Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, said it would not be responding to the Japan tsunami because AJWS, which works in the developing world, does not have a partner organization in Japan.
The devastating tsunami triggered by the biggest earthquake on record in Japan has at press time claimed more than 1,000 lives along the northeastern coast after a wall of water swept away everything in its path.
Thousands of residents were evacuated from an area around a nuclear plant after radiation levels rose in the reactor, but at press time there was no word on whether there had actually been a leak.
Donations to be used for Japan/Pacific disaster relief can be made at https://jdc.org/donation.
With files from Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf in Toronto