The Christian Charity Bringing Syrians Children To Israel For Lifesaving Heart Surgery
Children at the Shevet Achim house in Jerusalem. Image by Courtesy of Shevet Achim
By Naomi Zeveloff February 23, 2017
It’s an interfaith effort: a Christian charity funded by private donors is bringing Syrian refugee children into Israel for heart surgery.
Shevet Achim, whose name means “brothers dwelling together,” has been quietly arrange transport for Syrian youngsters from their countries of refuge into Israeli hospitals. So far, at least six children have made the trip.
Jonathan Miles, the group’s founder, has been helping to facilitate Israeli medical treatment for Arab children born with heart defects for the last 23 years. Between 10 and 20 children come to Israel each month, typically from the Gaza Strip or Iraq, and now Syria.
Israel’s public health insurance program, coupled with the generosity of doctors, makes Israeli treatment an inexpensive option compared to treatment at other Western hospitals. Surgeries cost around $8,000 including the cost of temporary stay in Israel.
The group’s philosophy, said Miles, is that “every human being is worthy of the same medical care you or I would want for our children.”
Shevet Achim isn’t the only charity bringing Syrians for treatment inside Israel. Amaliah, an American organization helmed by Israeli Moti Kahana, helps transport Syrians from villages in southern Syria to receive care in Israeli hospitals.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at zeveloff@forward.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
