Israeli Security Forces - Magen David Adom
The Magen David Adom
is Israel's only official emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and
blood bank service. The name means "Red Star of David".
History
The Magen David Adom organisation was formed in 1930 as a volunteer
outfit with a single branch in Tel Aviv. After opening branches in
Jerusalem and Haifa, it was extended nationwide five years later,
providing medical support to the public and the Haganah. In 1950 the
Knesset passed a law making MDA's status as Israel's national emergency
service official.
Current Status
The MDA's staff of 1200, plus 10,000 volunteers, operates 95 stations
which in turn operates a fleet of over 700 ambulances nationwide. It
serves as an auxiliary arm of the Israeli military during times of war.
Involvement with the Red Cross
Since its creation, Magen David Adom has been denied membership in the
International Red Cross (IRC) since it refused to replace its red Star
of David emblem with a red cross.
The official reason for the denial of membership is concerns about
symbol proliferation; at the same 1929 conference which granted use of
the Red Crescent and Red Lion And Sun, a limitation was placed on
acceptance of any further emblems. (The "Red Star of David" symbol was
not submitted to the ICRC until 1931).
Similar concerns of India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and the former USSR
regarding the use of non-Hindu and overtly religious symbols were also
dismissed by the ICRC, but their national bodies chose to adopt the Red
Cross as their official emblems in order to gain entry.
Critics of the IRC assert discrimination since Turkey, Iran and Egypt
were granted membership in 1929 while using the Islamic Red Crescent as
their emblem, citing the same concerns about the cross. Doctor Bernadine
Healy, then president of the American Red Cross also rejected this
argument in a March, 2000 letter to the International Herald Tribune,
"The international committee's feared proliferation of symbols is a
pitiful fig leaf, used for decades as the reason for excluding the Magen
David Adom - the Shield (or Star) of David." In protest, the American
Red Cross has withheld millions in administrative funding to the
International Committee of the Red Cross since May 2000.
Despite the continued lack of official recognition, since the mid
1990's, there has been extensive and growing co-operation between the
MDA and the ICRC including inter alia.: A 2.2 million US dollar spend on
strengthening ties between the two organisations, the signing in 2004 of
a 2 year co-operation statement, the permanent placement of an ICRC
co-operation officer in MDA headquarters, and extensive support of the
MDA's blood bank activities. In addition, there are bilateral
cooperation agreements between MDA and a number of national Red Cross
societies.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magen_David_Adom
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