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American Tourists Donate Blood in Israel

[Ha'aretz] Daphna Berman - The Topel family from Chicago - In Israel to celebrate their twin daughters' bat-mitzvah - toured the Old City of Jerusalem, shopped on Ben Yehuda Street, lounged by the hotel pool and rolled up their sleeves to give blood at a Magen David Adom drive. "When you give blood in Israel, it's like leaving a part of yourself behind," said Amy Topel. "We're definitely seeing an increase in the number of tourists donating blood while on vacation," said Jonathan Feldstein, the Israel representative of American Friends of Magen David Adom. "Nowhere else in the world are tourists putting blood drives on their agenda while they are on vacation." "There are very few things we can do as Americans to show solidarity with Israel. We can visit, we can support the economy and we can give blood. These are very tangible ways to make a contribution to the State of Israel," said Daniel Derman, a U.S. physician who hadn't given blood in 15 years until he rolled up his sleeve while on vacation last week in Jerusalem.
2008-04-04 01:00:00
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