B’Chasdei Hashem, all 56 Israelis who were unaccounted for on Motzei Shabbos after the devastating earthquake in Morocco were in contact overnight with their relatives and are safe.
There were 468 Israelis in Morocco when the earthquake stuck on Shabbos.
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday morning: “I’m pleased to inform you that during the night, ministry officials located the last of the Israeli citizens who were unaccounted for in the Marrakech region of Morocco.”
Kobi Ifrach, who runs the Kulna organization in Morocco that fosters ties between Israel and Arab countries, told Yisrael Hayom about the moments of horror, saying, “While singing Shabbat songs, the house started swaying from side to side with a strong tremor. We immediately realized it was an earthquake and ran outside in a frenzied panic.”
“The ground was still shaking outside. After a few minutes, we realized that this was a different event from what we knew or had been in before. In the street outside, everything was falling down,” Ifrach said, adding that he and other Kulna volunteers made sure that the members of the local Jewish community were safe.
“In the morning, the destruction became clear, dozens of houses collapsed. “Our shul, from the outside everything is broken and destroyed and there was no way to get inside, where the ceiling collapsed.”
“Since the disaster was reported, we have intensified the operations at the Foreign Ministry’s situation room. During the day, a reinforcement delegation will depart for the Israeli embassy in Rabat, Morocco, to assist Israelis there in returning to Israel. Additionally, we are preparing to send a rescue mission and humanitarian assistance to the disaster-stricken area. I want to express my gratitude to the dedicated employees of the Foreign Ministry who have been working around the clock, and I extend my condolences to the people of Morocco for this severe disaster.”
האסון במרוקו | עינת לוי, תושבת רבאט שהקימה קבוצת פעולה אזרחית לסיוע בכפרים שנפגעו, מספר ל-#ספי_ויניר: "אנחנו מארגנים חבילות סיוע לאנשים שאיבדו את הבית שלהם, שם יש להם את כל מה שהם צריכים כדי לשרוד את השבועות הקרובים"@sefiova @yanircozin pic.twitter.com/9BtjexWKTb
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 10, 2023
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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7 Responses
What about everyone else?
Its a real limit zechus on the Yidden visiting Morocco that despite the earthquake, they weren’t mechalel Shabbos by answering their phones.
“What about everyone else?”
This type of headline has been an ongoing issue for years that I’ve finally reconciled too. It obviously comes across as uncaring and parochial when in the midst of a unimaginable natural disaster or tragedy, the focus appears to be selfishly and narrowly directed on Jewish victims and survivors. However, given the readership of this site, that is perhaps understandable. If you dig deeper, it becomes clear that rescue teams and medical support teams from EY are often the FIRST on the ground, even in an Arab country like Morocco and Israeli and Jewish mosdos are among the most generous (per capita) donors to relief efforts.
Wow thank you Hashem
Pine Lake Park, if you hear about any disaster (car accident, fire, terror attack, etc.) that happened in the vicinity of a relative or close friend of yours, do you call them to check if they’re safe?
Why would you do that? What about everyone else?!
It’s the most normal, natural thing to first check that your dear ones are safe and then worry about everyone else. We Jews are all one family – all brothers and sisters – and when one Jew on the other side of the globe is in trouble, it pains every Jew, wherever he or she may be. So we first check that our brothers and sisters are safe and move straight on to show concern for everyone else.
Israel’s response is typical – sending aid to whoever needs while at the same time, determining the safety of every Israeli citizen.
Ladler: Very well said. Sadly, EY’s responses to these disasters are rarely acknowledged or reciprocated in global forums.
Thank you Hashem. But what about the other people? Out of the thousands of victims you only care about the Jewish ones? Ugh!