{"id":287,"date":"2024-04-14T08:37:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/?p=287"},"modified":"2024-05-26T12:52:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-26T12:52:03","slug":"the-burden-and-comfort-of-proof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/2024\/04\/14\/the-burden-and-comfort-of-proof\/","title":{"rendered":"The Burden\u2014and Comfort\u2014of Proof"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine<\/h5>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Burden
\u2014and Comfort\u2014of Proof<\/strong><\/h3> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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As the only expert in Israel on the human body from brain-to-toe, anatomist Dr. Alon Barash has worked every day since October 7th to identify the bodies of the murdered and the missing, and offer closure to their families.<\/h6> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Singular Expertise<\/h3>
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As a child, Dr. Alon Barash of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine wanted to study dinosaurs. When he discovered that there are no dinosaur bones in Israel, he switched to Neanderthals instead. \u201cI always said, I want to do research that just plain interests me. I wasn\u2019t worried about doing something that was seen as \u2018important,\u2019\u201d he says. Yet after the Hamas massacre of October 7th, his unique\u2014and uniquely comprehensive\u2014knowledge of the human body nonetheless led to what he describes as \u201cthe most difficult and important service of my life.\u201d<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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A physical anthropologist with expertise in human anatomy and skeletal biomechanics, Barash has long volunteered, alongside his research on early fossil hominins and teaching of anatomy, in assisting the IDF in investigating, searching for, and identifying missing soldiers. (\u201cThere are still 150 missing soldiers from the War of Independence, and we work to identify their remains every day,\u201d Barash says.) He also helps the IDF in cases of mass fatalities, such as terror attacks that require the rapid identification of victims. \u201cWe owe it to the families to hear of their loved ones\u2019 death from army representatives, not from the news or social media,\u201d insists Barash.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet after the slaughter of October 7th, in which Hamas brutally murdered more than 1,200 Israelis, his expertise took on a heartbreaking urgency. Explaining that many of the bodies were so badly charred there was no way to extract DNA, Barash was called upon to identify dozens of victims by means of their skeletal remains. He also uses skeletal remains and bone fragments to determine if missing and kidnapped Israelis can be conclusively declared dead.<\/p>\n

While he emphasizes that the work is conducted by a tireless \u201cteam of angels\u201d from the Military Rabbinate and the IDF\u2019s Missing Person\u2019s Unit, he concedes that he is the only one in the Israeli army\u2014and one of just two individuals in Israel\u2014with the ability to determine a victim\u2019s identity based on a part of his skeleton alone. The experience has driven home the need to train others for the task, which, he adds, requires not just scientific expertise, but the ability to manage large-scale recovery scenes. \u201cFinding every last victim requires archaeology-like excavations, and we need to make sure no one\u2019s remains are lost in the effort to find him,\u201d he says. He also plans to publish research on his experience, in the hope of helping anatomists around the world to identify victims of attacks or disasters in extreme situations.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t work that anyone would ever want to do, but when I look parents in the eye and tell them that I know, with complete certainty, that they can now begin grieving for their missing child, I understand that it is a gift of mercy, and I feel privileged to be able to give my people at least that.\u201d<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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\n As the volunteer head of the Israeli police\u2019s Northern Command, Dr. Alon Barash (far left) helps the search for a missing Ethiopian girl from Safed in March. <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\u201cLong after other reservists have gone home, my team and I will still be working. We\u2019re committed to serving until every Israeli has come home, and every Israeli family has closure about the fate of its loved one.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2014Dr. Alon Barash<\/em><\/h6>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\"image_print\"Print<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine The Burden\u2014and Comfort\u2014of Proof As the only expert in Israel on the human body from brain-to-toe, anatomist Dr. Alon Barash has worked every day since October 7th to identify the bodies of the murdered and the missing, and offer closure to their families. Singular Expertise As a child, Dr. Alon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-innovation","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"builder_content":"

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine<\/h5>\n

The Burden
\u2014and Comfort\u2014of Proof<\/strong><\/h3>\n
As the only expert in Israel on the human body from brain-to-toe, anatomist Dr. Alon Barash has worked every day since October 7th to identify the bodies of the murdered and the missing, and offer closure to their families.<\/h6>\n

Singular Expertise<\/h3>

As a child, Dr. Alon Barash of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine wanted to study dinosaurs. When he discovered that there are no dinosaur bones in Israel, he switched to Neanderthals instead. \u201cI always said, I want to do research that just plain interests me. I wasn\u2019t worried about doing something that was seen as \u2018important,\u2019\u201d he says. Yet after the Hamas massacre of October 7th, his unique\u2014and uniquely comprehensive\u2014knowledge of the human body nonetheless led to what he describes as \u201cthe most difficult and important service of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

A physical anthropologist with expertise in human anatomy and skeletal biomechanics, Barash has long volunteered, alongside his research on early fossil hominins and teaching of anatomy, in assisting the IDF in investigating, searching for, and identifying missing soldiers. (\u201cThere are still 150 missing soldiers from the War of Independence, and we work to identify their remains every day,\u201d Barash says.) He also helps the IDF in cases of mass fatalities, such as terror attacks that require the rapid identification of victims. \u201cWe owe it to the families to hear of their loved ones\u2019 death from army representatives, not from the news or social media,\u201d insists Barash.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Yet after the slaughter of October 7th, in which Hamas brutally murdered more than 1,200 Israelis, his expertise took on a heartbreaking urgency. Explaining that many of the bodies were so badly charred there was no way to extract DNA, Barash was called upon to identify dozens of victims by means of their skeletal remains. He also uses skeletal remains and bone fragments to determine if missing and kidnapped Israelis can be conclusively declared dead.<\/p>

While he emphasizes that the work is conducted by a tireless \u201cteam of angels\u201d from the Military Rabbinate and the IDF\u2019s Missing Person\u2019s Unit, he concedes that he is the only one in the Israeli army\u2014and one of just two individuals in Israel\u2014with the ability to determine a victim\u2019s identity based on a part of his skeleton alone. The experience has driven home the need to train others for the task, which, he adds, requires not just scientific expertise, but the ability to manage large-scale recovery scenes. \u201cFinding every last victim requires archaeology-like excavations, and we need to make sure no one\u2019s remains are lost in the effort to find him,\u201d he says. He also plans to publish research on his experience, in the hope of helping anatomists around the world to identify victims of attacks or disasters in extreme situations.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThis isn\u2019t work that anyone would ever want to do, but when I look parents in the eye and tell them that I know, with complete certainty, that they can now begin grieving for their missing child, I understand that it is a gift of mercy, and I feel privileged to be able to give my people at least that.\u201d<\/p>\n\"As As the volunteer head of the Israeli police\u2019s Northern Command, Dr. Alon Barash (far left) helps the search for a missing Ethiopian girl from Safed in March.\n

\u201cLong after other reservists have gone home, my team and I will still be working. We\u2019re committed to serving until every Israeli has come home, and every Israeli family has closure about the fate of its loved one.\u201d<\/em><\/p>

 <\/p>

\u2014Dr. Alon Barash<\/em><\/h6>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":64,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3166,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions\/3166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}