Video:
http://youtu.be/RmZtsKbQk9Q

The Civil Administration and other organizations recently planned a trip to
the zoo for Palestinian and Israeli children in need of heart surgery
Date: 17/07/2011, 5:34 PM Author: IDF Website
http://www.idf.il/1086-12443-EN/Dover.aspx

The Civil Administration, responsible for administering and coordinating
civilian needs for Palestinians in the Judea and Samaria region, and
Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem recently organized a visit by "a group of
Palestinian children from the West Bank along with their parents" to the
Jerusalem Zoo. Many of the children on the trip had previously undergone
open heart surgery at Hadassah Hospital, procedures paid for by the hospital
itself and French NGO, A Heart for Peace organization.

The trip was planned as a leisure activity for the children, among them
Israeli children, a way to bring much needed calm and joy to the physical
and emotional difficulties they deal with daily.

Ms. Dalia Bassa, the Health and Welfare Coordinator for the Civil
Administration, was key in organizing the trip, saying, "We encountered many
Palestinian children who cannot receive treatment because of the high
costs."

Professor Azaria Rein of the Department Hadassah University Hospital said,
"Six years ago we decided that those Palestinian kids who don't have the
money won't pay anything."

The Civil Administration is an IDF unit working alongside the Palestinian
Authority, the Palestinian population, IDF and Israeli authorities,
international organizations and NGOs to address the civilian population's
daily needs.