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Star of David lines up with Red Cross and Crescent
Oslo, Oct 26: The prized neutrality of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent societies has been shaken by attacks on their staff and a political row about emblems threatens to undermine efforts to remain above the fray.
Oslo, Oct 26: The prized neutrality of the Red Cross and
the Red Crescent societies has been shaken by attacks on their staff and a political row about emblems threatens to undermine efforts to remain above the fray.
This year, at least three members of the Red Cross and Red
Crescent have been killed in acts of war, including targeted
attacks, in Iraq and Afghanistan. That number does not include
deaths of local contractors.
''Humanitarian aid has become so embroiled and co-opted by political processes that it is difficult to see how anybody could see humanitarian agencies as neutral and impartial,'' said Frances Stevenson, research fellow at the London-based Humanitarian Practice Network.
''The protection of those logos is fast disappearing.''
Equal status for the Red Crescent alongside the Cross since the 1980s has gone a long way to assuage fears in Muslim countries that the movement was involved in missionary work.
But Israel's equivalent of a national Red Cross society is not granted the same status because the Geneva Conventions only recognise the Cross and the Crescent as official logos.
Israel's Magen David Adom (Star of David society, or MDA), which uses the Red Star of David as its emblem, is not allowed full membership of the International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the United States is withholding some financial support as a result.
''We think they are not being neutral by not allowing (full membership),'' said American Red Cross spokeswoman Devorah Goldburg.
A new emblem has been proposed for the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) -- a square red frame standing on one corner, with a white background. National societies would be free to put their own symbols in the middle.
''It is a compromise that we can live with. But we are not going to give up our emblem,'' said Haim Dagan, head of MDA's International Department.
Bureau Report
''Humanitarian aid has become so embroiled and co-opted by political processes that it is difficult to see how anybody could see humanitarian agencies as neutral and impartial,'' said Frances Stevenson, research fellow at the London-based Humanitarian Practice Network.
''The protection of those logos is fast disappearing.''
Equal status for the Red Crescent alongside the Cross since the 1980s has gone a long way to assuage fears in Muslim countries that the movement was involved in missionary work.
But Israel's equivalent of a national Red Cross society is not granted the same status because the Geneva Conventions only recognise the Cross and the Crescent as official logos.
Israel's Magen David Adom (Star of David society, or MDA), which uses the Red Star of David as its emblem, is not allowed full membership of the International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the United States is withholding some financial support as a result.
''We think they are not being neutral by not allowing (full membership),'' said American Red Cross spokeswoman Devorah Goldburg.
A new emblem has been proposed for the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) -- a square red frame standing on one corner, with a white background. National societies would be free to put their own symbols in the middle.
''It is a compromise that we can live with. But we are not going to give up our emblem,'' said Haim Dagan, head of MDA's International Department.
Bureau Report