Israel is sending aid teams to devasted Myanmar (formerly Burma) on Wednesday, where the death toll from a cyclone that battered the Southeast Asian nation over the weekend is said to be between 23,000-50,000.
The Foreign Ministry sent teams from the IDF's highly trained search-and-rescue team as well as a 10-member team of top Israeli doctors and nurses. The Jewish State also dispatched badly needed supplies, including plastic sheeting, food, household appliances and water filters.
Shachar Zahavi, head of the IsrAid organization in charge of coordinating assistance to foreign countries in need, said that Myanmar, known as Burma before the rise of a military government, would provide visas for the teams by Wednesday morning.
A spokesman from the Myanmar Embassy in Tel Aviv expressed gratitude to the Israeli government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are providing monetary and other assistance to help in the wake of Saturday's disaster.
23,000 people have been found dead after the deadly cyclone, named Nargis, whipped through the poor Asian country. It was followed by a huge tidal wave that flooded many coastal villages. There are still 41,000 people "missing" and aid groups are estimating upwards of 50,000 dead. Many may be alive, but stranded in outlying villages or towns cut off from the outside world by debris and downed phone and electric lines. Israel's search and rescue teams are expert in extracting survivors from rubble and wreckage as their training is meant to deal with missile and attack and earthquake relief.
Other countries are pitching in as well. The United States has given $3.25 million and the United Kingdom promised $9.9 million. Thailand dispatched $100,000 and supplies, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies pledged $189,000, Canada $2 million, China $1 million, India relief materials, Indonesia: $1 million, Norway$1.96 million, France $3.1 million, Ireland $1.5 million, Spain $775,000, Switzerland $475,000, Czech Republic $154,000, Denmark $103,600 and Sweden offered "logistical support and water cleaning systems."
Jews of Burma
Jewish settlements in Burma date from the first half of the19th Century, consisting primarily of Jews who emigrated from Bombay, Cochin and Calcutta, in India.
In the 1870's the Jewish population was large enough in the Burmese city of Rangoon to warrant Jewish communal facilities. In 1893-96, a large Synagogue was built to replace a wooden structure that had been used for prayers. At its peak, the Jewish population in Burma was only 1,200 and most left during the Holocaust, when Japan invaded the country. A few Jews remain in Rangoon, along with the synagogue.
Maayana Miskin contributed to this report
