Ynetnews:
Op-ed: While Arabs shun the disabled, Israel gives hope to less fortunate members of society
While Iranian scientists are being deployed in the nuclear bunkers and Israeli F16s could be ready to take off, one story reminds the world that Israel and Israelis are involved not only in hurting and being hurt, but in giving hope to those without hope.
World-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman, afflicted with polio as a child, just attended the 60th anniversary celebration of the Israeli Foundation for Handicapped Children. While in the Arab world disabled people have been called “the invisibles,” because they are segregated and hidden from the public eye, Israel’s work with illness and disabilities would merit a book in itself.
Israel’s ruthless determination in tackling head-on the physical problems that arise either from natural causes, terrorism or war is astounding and says much about Israel’s moral lesson to the world beyond the headlines on killings, kidnappings, snipers, and suicide bombers.
In the world’s consciousness, the word “Israel” has become equated with fear, when the Jewish state is in fact the world’s most important laboratory for healers of diseases. There is an amazing quantity of research, of inventions, of newfound techniques for curing and helping the ill, the blind, and the paralyzed to return to normal life.
Categories: Asia, Israel, Middle East