ZAKA volunteers after their experience in Ethiopia

JORDAN MOSHE

When they originally arrived at the site in Bishoftu in rural Ethiopia, they encountered a roughly 20m-deep hole in the ground. “We arrived at a pile of rubble,” says Netanel Azizollahoff, when he and the South African group spoke to the SA Jewish Report this week. “It was like walking down a mine shaft. There were dozens of airline safety cards scattered everywhere. You’d see a pair of trousers without anyone in them anymore. We could only imagine the force to which these people had been exposed. There was litter everywhere, and the smell was appalling.”

These images will remain with them long after their intensive search efforts.

They are still trying to catch up on lost sleep after returning last Thursday, but their daily lives have resumed with all the attendant demands this entails. Although they admit that their initial goals at the site changed over the course of the search, they are confident in their mission being a success.

“We may not have been 100% successful, based on what we envisioned in our heads when we left, but our mission changed when we arrived, and we came out successful by the end,” says Josh Green. “After much negotiation, we successfully arranged access to the area, enabling subsequent volunteers to access and visit the site.”

It all started when the four were briefed at Beyachad in Johannesburg on Monday 11 March, and given 45 minutes to pack and say goodbye to their families. Thanks to the careful coordination of the ZAKA ground crew, everything was prepared ahead of them, including air tickets and provisions for the trip. Says Green: “Yaakov Lazarus of Moishes Butchery opened his fridges, grabbed whatever he thought would last for a few days, and gave it to us. People made sure we had everything we needed. None of what we did could’ve been done without the logistical team in South Africa.”

Boarding a Boeing 737 Max 8 (the same model that crashed and was subsequently grounded), they flew to Addis Ababa. There they met the four volunteers from ZAKA Israel, the Chabad emissary in Ethiopia, Rabbi Eliyahu Chaviv, and a representative from the Israeli consulate. Says Green: “We immediately felt a sense of camaraderie. They all knew we’d come at a moment’s notice, and immediately the Israelis started sharing their food with us. We felt a sense of shared purpose.”

Although they had been prepared to sleep at the crash site, or on the floor of Chabad House, the volunteers were taken to a hotel to unpack and then whisked off to the House for a meal. Green explains: “Within minutes of our arrival, the rabbi and rebbetzin served a full Israeli breakfast. Rugellach (pastries), milk, coffee, homemade bread – all from their own stash. They even gave us money and SIM cards. For them, there was no question – they gave it all to us. None of what we did could have been done without them.”

As ZAKA was the first foreign delegation to arrive following the crash, the volunteers spent their first day getting the necessary permission to visit the site. “We couldn’t simply step in and assist,” they explain. “Ethiopians are very proud and wanted to handle the disaster on their own.” Green adds that because the crash wasn’t a major disaster that brought the country to halt, but an incident that took place in a remote place, the authorities were reluctant to accept outside help immediately. “We did what we could to get in and do the job.”

After securing the necessary permission, the ZAKA team prepared to visit the site. When they had been given their initial brief, they were shown a picture that was doing the rounds online. “What we saw was a plane on a dry a field with its middle blown out,” says Green. “In our minds, we were going to a fairly straightforward mission, involving walking down the fuselage of the plane and checking seats, as we went to find the Israeli passengers. This is what we and the community thought we were going into.” Although the bodies might have been disfigured or burned, it was thought they would be readily identifiable and ready to be sent to Israel for burial.

On the site, the team donned protective equipment and, working in a grid search formation, covered sections of the site looking for human remains, or any debris of interest. “We went with the aim of collecting materials and identifying bodies. You look for whatever you can find that may be of interest,” they explain. “Personal belongings like tefillin, even clothing – anything to prove who was on the flight and allow you to honour the dead. We were there to assist everyone, not just the Israelis. Had we found them on day one, we would have stayed to look for others.”

Although the intensity of their surroundings is difficult to comprehend, the volunteers say they made a continuous effort to remain focused on the task at hand. Says Ilan Dubb: “Two dimensions operate at the same time: one is the crash site you see, the other consists of thinking that these were once people. When you do the task, you must separate the two. That’s an essential skill in this kind of work.”

He adds that in order to maintain this separation, volunteers shared the emotional and physical load as a team, and that emotions were expressed in the appropriate spaces only, such as when the team stopped to recite the memorial prayer, Kel Maleh Rachamim. “When a volunteer recognised he was taking emotional strain, someone would move in to take his place. It was fluid and focus on the mission was always maintained. We separate the fact that we have a job to do from the people that were living only hours before, but we do the job with utmost sensitivity and respect.”

The volunteers say Ethiopian civilians were grateful to them for their help. “People wanted to take photos with us, and our driver said that we were angels. From the moment we arrived to the day we left, they treated us with gratitude and kindness. They did what they could under the circumstances.”

While some remains are still at the site, the search is officially over, and DNA analysis of the remains is set to begin soon. Despite previous reports that the bodies of the Israeli passengers had been identified, only the results of these tests will prove whether it is them.

The crater was filled last Friday, and bottles of earth from the site were given to the families of those who perished in an effort to achieve some form of closure.

The volunteers say that the memories of their experience will remain with them for some time. Says Green: “When we stood at the crater, we saw things scattered in all directions, including novels, clothing, and even cell phones. We found items that the families of those who died can only wish to see. When you see things that you can never ‘unsee’, they stay with you, and you create a lasting bond with the people you see them with.”