A stunning case of "eye-washing"

From Israel's MFA:

When the seven-person crew from the Israeli volunteer organization Eye from Zion arrived in a remote region in Ethiopia in February to provide free cataract surgery, they were expecting several dozen patients. Instead, hordes of adults and children were waiting to receive the life-changing operation. And one young girl with a protruding eye was given a very special gift –– a medical trip to Israel.

Using its proprietary mobile unit that encases the patient’s head in a sterile environment, Eye from Zion has already performed the 20-minute procedure on thousands of people in Asian and African countries. This time, the organization was asked by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs to pay a visit to northern Ethiopia because so many people there are blinded by cataracts.

Confronted with the unexpected mass of people, Eye from Zion founder Nati Marcus decided he would send no one away if he thought they could be helped. “They told us 70, and when we arrived there were 1,400 waiting for us. We sent 400 away immediately because there was nothing we could do -- some even had no eyes. But we knew there were about 1,000 we could help.”

After an initial 170 operations in the regions of Debark and Gondar, plus training for a local nurse who had taken it upon herself to perform cataract operations, Marcus planned to return with another team of four eye doctors, a couple of nurses and a technician over the course of the year to finish the job for those on the waiting list.

On March 17, a crew led by Prof. Dov Weinberger, head of ophthalmology at Rabin Medical Center, flew over with representatives from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which has on-the-ground staff in Ethiopia.

“One thousand is an unbelievable number,” Marcus says. “We worked from morning to night with a local doctor from Ethiopia who helped us in the mobile operating room.”

Marcus, a retired businessman, invented this unique surgical setup to overcome the problem of operating in remote locations. The contents of the unit were donated by Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer after Marcus founded Eye from Zion four years ago in order to share Israeli medical expertise and training to people in developing areas.

Supported by MASHAV, Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Foreign Ministry and volunteer medical personnel, as well as donations, Eye from Zion also enables doctors from around the world to network and share techniques that can advance medical treatment for improving sight in the developing world.

Israel haters at this point are fuming. Since they know, a priori, that the Zionist entity is inherently evil, then it must follow that everything that every Israeli does is by definition a human rights violation. This must be, too. How can they prove it?

But then a ray of light appears for them to grab onto:

Marcus always hopes that people who benefit from the training and the treatment will go on to become goodwill ambassadors for Israel and the Jewish people.

A-ha! You see - these doctors aren't spending months in remote areas, volunteering their time, helping thousands of people see, for purely altruistic reasons! Of course not! It's pure hasbara!  They are using purported good deeds to make Israel look good! They are asking their patients to show gratitude towards the occupying Zionist power!

It's eye-washing!

This ten-year old girl, who had a life-threatening tumor behind her eye removed by these volunteers and who is now in Israel to have follow-up surgery, is obviously nothing but a Hasbara pawn. She may be too young to know to refuse the tainted Zionist services, but what excuse do her parents have?

(If Mondoweiss or any of the other anti-Israel idiots would deign to cover this story, you would see that what I am writing here is no exaggeration.)