[HANASHIR:9111] Anti Israel remarks by Red Cross

[PKellyJr <PKellyJr...>]

My personal comment: While the Red Cross accepted the Arabs'  Red Scimitar as 
a sister agency years ago, it has consistantly refused to recognize the Red 
Mogen David.
During the 6 Day War, the Red Cross was NOT accepting blood donations from 
Jewish College Students pledging donations to Israel but were accepting 
donations to Arab countries UNTIL there was a protest by Jewish organizations
During the Second World War, the Red Cross rubber stamped the Nazis' efforts 
to whitewash the murder of Jews in camps.
Send your protests to the Red Cross.
Miriam

FWD:
Red Cross Takes Issue With Israel
By DINA KRAFT
.c The Associated Press
JERUSALEM (AP) - Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza are ``a war 
crime,'' the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the area 
said Thursday, triggering a harsh Israeli response. 
The remarks were the latest chapter in the ongoing friction between Israel 
and the international agency. The Israeli Foreign Ministry called the 
comments ``inappropriate.'' 
At a news conference, Rene Kosirnik, who heads the Red Cross delegation to 
Israel and the Palestinian areas, said the settlements violate the fourth 
Geneva Convention, the treaty intended to protect civilians in areas of 
conflict. 
``The installation of a population of the occupying power in occupied 
territory is considered an illegal move, it is a grave breach (of law),'' 
said Kosirnik. ``In principle it is a war crime.'' 
About 200,000 Israelis live in 144 settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, 
established in territory Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. 
Israel defends the settlement policy, maintaining that the West Bank and Gaza 
Strip are disputed territory, not occupied land, and therefore the Geneva 
Convention does not apply. 
It also says that the Oslo interim peace accords of 1993 call for Israel and 
the Palestinians to determine the fate of the settlements in peace 
negotiations. 
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Yaffa Ben-Ari said the government was 
dismayed by Kosirnik's comments. 
``It is quite inappropriate for the ICRC to prejudice the outcome of such 
negotiations by offering such loaded statements,'' Ben-Ari said. ``By taking 
a public position on these issues, the ICRC compromises its ability to 
effectively work with the sides to serve its humanitarian mission.'' 
The Red Cross traditionally maintains a policy of neutrality and does not 
normally speak out on sensitive political issues. Kosirnik said the 
organization's opposition was based on international law, not politics. 
``The International Red Cross is not a prosecutor and not a judge, but we are 
certainly advocates in lobbying for respect of human standards and 
humanitarian law,'' he said. 
European Union officials have also said settlements are illegal under 
international law. The United States has declared the settlements ``obstacles 
to peace,'' but maintains that the two sides must deal with the issue in 
negotiations. 
Kosirnik's comments followed a strained meeting last month between Red Cross 
officials and Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. 
Responding to charges that Israel was violating Palestinian human rights, 
Ben-Eliezer angrily produced a picture of an Israeli baby killed by a 
Palestinian gunman. 
At the same meeting, Ben-Eliezer criticized the Red Cross for failing to 
establish contact with four Israelis, including three soldiers, held hostage 
in Lebanon. 
Another sore spot has been Israel's exclusion from full membership of the Red 
Cross movement, partly because the Red Cross refuses to recognize the emblem 
of the Israeli emergency service, a red Star of David. 
On the Net: 
Israeli emergency service Web site: http://www.magendavidadom.org 
American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org 
International Committee of the Red Cross http://www.icrc.org 
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 
http://www.ifrc.org