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What's Wrong with Israel's Magen David Adom?
In the world today, the cross of Christianity and the crescent of Islam are
internationally accepted as humanitarian symbols. But the ancient symbol of the
Jewish people - the Star of David - is not. That is unacceptable. It must
change. And with your help, we can make it happen.
When a terrorist bomb exploded in front of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya,
Israel's humanitarian service organization - the Magen David Adom - volunteered
immediately to help. Within hours, highly trained rescue teams from Magen David
Adom were on the scene. At great personal risk, Israeli specialists entered
collapsed buildings. They saved dozens of lives. In the process, they
demonstrated why Magen David Adom is widely considered to be one of the world's
finest humanitarian organizations of its kind. But there is an irony in all of
this. Despite the professional respect in which Magen David Adom is held and its
tremendous record of responding to people in need, Israel's humanitarian service
organization is denied full membership in the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Why? What's the problem? Permit me to explain.
Back in 1864, when the leading nations of the world signed a treaty to provide
protection in time of war for hospitals, medical personnel, and the patients in
their care, it was agreed that the universal symbol of the humanitarian services
would be the Swiss flag with its colors reversed.
That's the origin of the red cross. But for some countries, that symbol was not
acceptable. In Turkey, for example, where most people are Muslims, the red cross
was considered a symbol of the Christian religion. Instead of the red cross,
Turkey declared that it would use as its humanitarian emblem the red crescent, a
symbol derived from Islam.
A reasonable position? So it would seem. And after many other Islamic countries
adopted it, the red crescent joined the red cross as an officially sanctioned
humanitarian symbol.
But in 1949, when the newly independent State of Israel asked for recognition of
a humanitarian emblem derived from the Jewish tradition - a red Star of David -
their request was refused. Israel was expected to choose the cross of
Christianity or the crescent of Islam. The Jewish State refused. The leaders of
Magen David Adom announced that they would stay, thank you very much, with the
ancient symbol of the Jewish people and the Jewish faith.
And the result? Israel's Magen David Adom was not permitted to join the
International Federation. An outrage? Yes, it was.
But what is even more shocking, outrageous, and infuriating is the fact that
today - fifty-three years later - Magen David Adom is still denied full
Federation membership. Just think about it. Israel is the only country in the
world whose humanitarian emblem has ever formally been rejected. Magen David
Adom is not a full and equal member of the Red Cross.
Unacceptable? Intolerable? You bet it is. There is no excuse for this blatant
anti-Jewish discrimination. What can we do?
For starters, it helps to be right on the issues. And on the International Red
Cross and the Magen David Adom, the American Jewish Committee is on target. In
the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, the tendency has been not
to change. But when the public gets involved - that's a different story. That's
why the American Jewish Committee placed ads in influential newspapers across
America. Public involvement has a way of bringing buried issues out into the
sunlight.
And out in the open is where the question of fairness to Magen David Adom
deserved to be.
David A. Harris
Executive Director, AJC
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