A Healing Hand for Victims in Israel

In a world of suicide bombers and mass murder, 95-year-old Irving Dubin of Camarillo is quietly doing his bit to ease the pain.

Since 1987, the retired pharmacist and electronics manufacturer has led local efforts to buy and equip ambulances for use in Israel.

“Don’t Wait For Another Bomb! We Need Your Help Now!” screams a headline in The Courier, a newsletter put out by Dubin’s organization.

He heads the 300-member Ventura County chapter of the American Red Magen David for Israel, a group that supports the Red Star of David, Israel’s version of the Red Cross.

Last month, Dubin’s group sent another ambulance to Israel, the fourth in 10 years. The $70,000 ambulances, bearing a crimson Star of David, are built and furnished in the U.S.

They have never been in greater demand. Since September 2000, Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been racked by bombings, shootings and massive civil unrest, with hundreds of Jews and Palestinians killed in the ongoing conflict.

Dubin has watched it all unfold from his home in Leisure Village.

“What is going on now isn’t new,” he said, sitting at the kitchen table with his 89-year-old wife, Anne. “They have been killing and bombing Jews for years.”

Judaism has played an enormous role in Dubin’s life. His grandfather and father were rabbis, as is his brother. Dubin studied to be a rabbi but chose a different career, mainly, he said, because he couldn’t tolerate kosher food.

Still, he wanted to aid Israel.

“When I heard about this I thought it was a down-to-earth way to help,” he said.

The local group was formed in 1985, and Dubin became president in 1987. Its most recent meeting was Sept. 11, the day of the terrorist attacks on the U.S.

Rather than cancel the meeting, the group assembled at Temple Ner Ami in Camarillo and broke into a rendition of “God Bless America.”

Although it once received a gift of $30,000, the Camarillo group depends on small contributions. In one case, an immigrant woman approached Anne Dubin and handed her $3.20 in change.

“Afterward, I went to the bathroom and cried,” Anne said.

Many of the ambulances contain intensive-care units that can be turned into mobile operating rooms, said Howard Parmet, executive director of organization’s Pacific Southwest region.

Both Israelis and Palestinians are served by the ambulances, Parmet said, but the vehicles are frequent targets.

“We have had 66 ambulances attacked in Israel this year. Some were burned totally. Some were damaged and in need of significant repair,” he said. “Some were stoned. These aren’t pebbles being thrown, but large rocks that shatter windows and break the structure itself.”

Parmet’s next goal is to raise money for armored ambulances.

Although the group’s aim is to support Israelis, Parmet said, “this is absolutely apolitical.” The ambulances, he added, “are not supporting an ideology or politicians--they are supporting the people of Israel.”

Every few months, Dubin’s group receives a list from Israel of the kinds of equipment needed. There are 600 ambulances in Israel, and Americans donate about 80 each year.

“In Israel, every child will know the sign of this ambulance,” said Zvi Vapni, deputy general counsel at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles. “The contributions of these groups have enlarged our fleet and made it top of the line. The people who drive those ambulances have to be quite courageous.”

Ed Williams, 86, another member of the Camarillo group, said he “thought this was a cause that required some backing. I want to do something rather than just talking about it.”