While media
reports from Haiti express amazement at Israel's well-equipped medical
delegation to the quake-stricken nation, some critics have warned
against organ theft.
The Israeli medical team dispatched to Haiti has set up a field
hospital in the tremor-battered Caribbean country, winning Western
media praise for doing what even their American peers have not yet
managed to accomplish.
But a video posted on Youtube by an American resident of Seattle,
Washington on Tuesday took the shine off the Israeli professionalism
that media have raved about in the past few days.
In his video, T. West of a group called AfriSynergy Productions
suggested that soldiers in the military delegation to the earthquake
site in Haiti might be involved in stealing organs from their patients.
He warned that there are people operating in Haiti who do not have
a conscience and are members of the search-and-rescue teams, including
the Israeli army, Israeli news website Ynet reported on Wednesday.
West recalled organ harvest charges filed against the Israeli army
in the past, and pointed out that there is very little monitoring
during such tragedies.
He warned the Haitian people to protect their fellow citizens
against international medical groups who have arrived in the country in
hope of making money off the tragedy.
In a interview with Ynet, West said he had nothing against Israel but fully opposed "the ideology of Zionism."
"We saw what you did in South Africa and with the Palestinians.
Because of our history and the suffering of our people, I understand
what the Palestinians are going through."
Last Tuesday, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake jolted Haiti, leaving an
estimated 200,000 people killed — 70,000 of whom have already been
buried in mass graves.
West, an African American who does "a talk show and journalism and
volunteer for a few non-profit organizations," appreciated the presence
of Israeli military forces and others helping in Haiti, but noted
"everywhere there is death, there are exploiters."
"There needs to be transparency in Haiti," he urged.
MRS/JG/DT
