As the war rages in Syria, there have been efforts in Israel, its neighbor to the southwest, to lend a hand to Syrian civilians. The aid projects involve a mix of sympathy, secrecy, strategy — and sensitivity.
Israeli volunteers recently gathered in a warehouse to prepare boxes of children’s medicine to be sent to Syria — but the Israeli company that runs the warehouse asked not to be identified because it did not want to be publicly associated with the initiative, according to one volunteer.
Israel and Syria have battled each other in the past, and are technically still at war.
One Israeli volunteer standing among the crates of medicine, Yotvat Fireizen-Weil, said her family has struggled to accept her activism for Syrians.
“My brothers are all military and security men. Protecting Israel is a very, very significant part of our family,” Fireizen-Weil said. “It is not easy for them, what I’m doing. It’s created a lot of conflict. At first, I think they didn’t understand. Like, ‘Are you crazy? These are our enemies.’ ”
Source: News Now/ npr.org
