The president of the American Red Cross is urging that the International Red Cross movement drop its longstanding refusal to recognize Israel’s Magen David Adom.
Elizabeth Dole has called on Red Cross societies abroad to “join with us to assure the full participation of the Magen David Adom in Israel” in the international humanitarian agency, the World Jewish Congress reported.
At the same time, both houses of the U.S. Congress have adopted a concurrent resolution calling for inclusion of Magen David Adom as “a legitimate national society of the International Red Cross-Red Crescent Movement.”
Israel has been unsuccessfully seeking full membership since the Red Cross movement was reorganized in 1948-49, in the aftermath of World War II.
Six years ago, the movement changed its name to the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. The move was protested at the time by the WJC and Israel, which said it added religious significance to the organization’s symbols.
The WJC has been working with the American Red Cross in support of the formal inclusion of the Israeli humanitarian agency in the international movement.
Dole issued her call for inclusion of Magen David Adom in letters to the heads of the largest Red Cross societies abroad, including those of Canada, Britain, France and Germany.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
