AJC Welcomes Move to Broaden Red Cross Membership

American Jewish Committee
Monday, 15 May 2000

The American Jewish Committee today welcomed the decision of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to convene its members later this year to vote on creating a third, religiously neutral, protective emblem, a move that will lead to Magen David Adom gaining full membership in the Federation.

"This is an important development toward achieving the Red Cross' stated commitment to universality by making it possible for countries like Israel to finally achieve full membership in the international Red Cross movement," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris.

"We commend the International Committee of the Red Cross, under the leadership of Jakob Kellenberger, for this long-awaited initiative," said Mr. Harris. "We are hopeful that by the end of this year Israel's humanitarian society, Magen David Adom, will be able to proudly display an internationally recognized emblem which includes MDA's traditional symbol, the Jewish star of David."

AJC has been deeply involved for years in advocacy for equal treatment of Israel in international organizations.

The third emblem, if approved, will be a diamond. Israel and other countries using distinct symbols will have the option of displaying their own emblems within the diamond.

"We will continue to monitor the international Red Cross process over the next six months with the hope that the process will proceed smoothly and the anomaly of excluding Israel's society from full and equal participation is ended," Mr. Harris said.

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org