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Support Israel’s
National Blood
Service And EMS
Alan Dershowitz to speak at American
Friends of Magen David Adom Detroit gala.
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The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive, The University of
Michigan-Dearborn College of Arts, Science and Letters, The Mardigian Library,
The HUB for Teaching and Learning and The Holocaust Memorial Center—
Zekelman Family Campus present:
DR. MICHAEL BERENBAUM:
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2018, 6-8PM, KOCHOFF HALL AB
16
October 4 • 2018
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merican Friends of Magen
David Adom wants all of
Metro Detroit to understand
the critical and lifesaving work of
Israel’s national EMS and blood
services organization, so it’s
enlisting one of the biggest pro-
Israel advocates to make the case
for MDA.
Professor Alan Dershowitz,
author of
The Case for
Israel, will be
the featured
speaker at
AFMDA’s
Detroit event
on Oct. 17 at
Congregation
Shaarey
Zedek in
Southfield.
Judy and David Karp
Chaired by
Judy and David Karp, the event
will have a decidedly different
feel this year. Instead of a formal,
seated event, guests can opt-in to
an exclusive VIP reception with
Dershowitz at 6 p.m., followed by
a Q&A with the former Harvard
University academic that will be
open to the community at 7 p.m.
The event’s reimagined format is
meant to draw new attention to one
of Israel’s most important medical
and national security infrastructure
projects: MDA’s new Marcus
National Blood Services Center.
Currently under construction, but
still short of necessary funding, the
new blood center will be the world’s
first underground blood processing,
testing, storage and distribution
facility. The total cost of the project
is $133 million, of which 75 percent
has been raised.
MDA is responsible for all the
blood needs of the Israel Defense
Forces, while also providing
97 percent of the blood used
by Israeli hospitals for civilian
use. The current blood center
in Tel HaShomer, built in 1987
with funding from AFMDA, is
vulnerable to rocket attack and
biochemical terrorism. It also
can no longer accommodate
Israel’s growing population and
does not meet Israel’s current
building regulations for earthquake
compliance.
The new blood center will
be a safe, underground and
secure complex, complete with
sophisticated ventilation systems
in the event of chemical attacks
and housing state-of-the-art
laboratories and blood-processing
units. As Israelis continue dealing
with a deadly wave of terrorist
stabbings, shootings and car-
rammings, the need for a safe and
reliable blood supply is ever-more
urgent.
Despite its critical importance,
the Marcus National Blood
Services Center is only part of
MDA’s ongoing and robust medical
services. MDA operates a fleet of
more than 1,000 ambulances and
500 Medicycles that are dispatched
from 166 medical stations
throughout Israel. MDA receives no
operational funding from the Israeli
government, so it relies heavily on
donations from Americans and
volunteers in Israel, who make up
87 percent of its 17,000 emergency
responders.
“Judy and I are proud to rally
behind such an important cause —
protecting Israel’s ability to fully
respond to medical emergencies,”
said David Karp, who will moderate
the conversation with Dershowitz.
“We want to make everyone in
our community aware of the vital
role played by MDA and its first-
responder heroes.”
The Detroit event will also
celebrate the innovation and
technology MDA develops and