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Washington, D.C. -- Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) today issued the following statement regarding the pending decision by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to make Israel’s national humanitarian aid society, Magen David Adom (MDA), a full member of the ICRC after 58 years.
“This is both a moral and a humanitarian issue. If the ICRC fails to make the right decision at their scheduled international meeting tomorrow,” said Holt, “they will forfeit much of their international moral authority. MDA has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to the well-being of the global community, including Romanians displaced by flooding on the Danube, Americans affected by Hurricane Katrina, and Southeast Asian survivors of the tsunami. MDA deserves full recognition and equal participation in all ICRC activities.”
During the past year, Holt appealed repeatedly to the Swiss government to convene the state parties of the Geneva Convention for the purpose of establishing and adopting for use a third neutral symbol -- in this case, a red diamond or crystal -- to represent the contributions of non-Christian and non-Muslim humanitarian organizations such as MDA. The proposed change to ICRC policy will ensure that MDA personnel and operations are afforded the same recognition and protections already accorded under international law to the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
“By finally making MDA a full partner in the ICRC,” said Holt, “refugees and others in need of humanitarian and medical relief will now have the benefit of the services and skills of some of the most dedicated, caring people in the world. It is long past time for the discrimination that blocked MDA’s full membership in the ICRC to end.”
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