Israeli Volunteers Aid Syrian Refugees in Greece

Waiting to help them on the beaches of Greece are the last people the Syrians might expect.

Volunteers from Israel.

My name is Tali Shaltiel. I'm here with Israel, an Israeli-based NGO.

My name is Majida Kardosh. I'm here as a medical team. I work as a nurse.

My name is Iris Adler. I live in Tel Aviv. I just finished med school in Tel Aviv University.

I came here through Israel to be on the coast as a doctor.

My name is Manal Shadi. I'm from Nazareth and I'm the team lead of Israel in Greece.

Our job here is to receive the boats of the refugees that are coming from the Turkish side to the Greek side.

There are many, many volunteers on the beach, not many medical teams.

On the line from the Turkish side, they're going through a lot of problems.

They're smugglers. They are asking them to pay between $1,000 to $5,000 per person.

A lot of time they're just shoving them into boats that should fit 50 people, but there are 150 people on the boat.

They just leave them midway through the sea and they tell them,

you find your own way to Greece, we're not responsible on you.

Or they put like half a tank of gas and they just leave them in the middle of the sea.

What we do is go to high point with binoculars, searching and scanning the water.

And you start looking for this black with orange dots in the view.

And then it comes nearer and you start seeing the rubber boat and all the people on it.

It's like one, two, three, it begins.

It's a few minutes of chaos, taking off the babies, people screaming, shouting, helping them.

You know, a lot of them don't know how to swim. They're afraid from the water.

Looking at the refugees so we can see who is in need of medical help.

And I start shouting, who needs a doctor in Arabic?

And so this is the time that we start giving treatment.

After that, we start giving them food and water, warm clothes, something to eat, to drink.

After that, I take the map, we have a map that we translate on it in Arabic.

Explain to them what is the next step.

You know, they don't know where they are, okay?

So the first thing that I tell them that they are in Lesbos island in Greece.

Because some of them, they had like no idea where they are.

We brought a team from Israel, which is Arab speaking, and the effect was amazing.

Hearing your language is very important to them.

And then getting the instructions where to go, what to do next, what are the next steps.

Because they have a lot of uncertainty.

And although Israel and Syria are technically at war, none of that matters here on the beach.

Usually when they get to the beach, they're just happy to see people waiting for them.

Giving them help and food and clothes and medical treatment if they need.

Sometimes they realize who we are and they're just happy to see us and they hug us and kiss us and it's very exciting.

Men kissing me like I'm their daughter, you know, on the forehead, saying thank you,

saying that I would never have thought that I was going to receive treatment

or be able to speak from an Israeli doctor or share my story with an Israeli.