Magen David Adom
Magen David Adom (MDA, Hebrew: מגן דוד אדום , German: Red Shield Davids ) is an aid organization in Israel that is officially responsible for ambulance , emergency rescue and blood donation services there. Magen David Adom employs 2,200 full-time employees, and a further 23,800 volunteers help operate the 116 stations and 1,087 ambulances, emergency motorcycles and blood donation vehicles as well as 2 rescue helicopters that are spread across the country. It is supported by United Hatzalah , a first responder organization. MDA also supports the Israel Defense Forces as an additional unit. The MDA is based in Tel Aviv .
Since its foundation, Magen David Adom has endeavored to be recognized as a national society within the meaning of the Geneva Conventions and to join the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRC). Since the organization but as a flag instead of the Red Shield of David one of the conditions laid down in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 emblem used it was recognition for decades by the ICRC and membership in the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies granted. After the adoption of the third additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions in December 2005 and the introduction of the additional neutral red crystal symbol based on it, the ICRC recognized Magen David Adom as national after a corresponding amendment to the statutes of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in June 2006 Aid Society and Admission to the International Federation.
Organization history
MDA was founded as a voluntary emergency rescue station on June 7, 1930 in Tel Aviv by seven doctors, members of the Hagana and private individuals. A second MDA group was founded in Haifa in 1931 and a third in Jerusalem in 1934 . A year later, MDA was transformed into a nationwide organization. Even at this time, MDA was treated like a Red Cross society by the British administrative authorities, and MDA also acted as the Hagana medical service . In 1948, Israel signed the Geneva Conventions a few weeks after it was founded . In addition, the Israeli government announced its intention to recognize MDA as the national society of Israel within the meaning of the conventions. The Geneva Conventions were signed, however, with the restriction that the red Star of David was used as a protective symbol instead of the Red Cross or the Red Crescent. Only two states, Lebanon and the USA when they ratified the Geneva Conventions on August 2, 1955, officially rejected this restriction.
At the diplomatic conference in 1949, at which the revision of the Geneva Conventions was decided, there were three proposals with regard to protective symbols. The Netherlands submitted an application for a new, uniform trademark to replace the three previously recognized symbols. From the 17th International Red Cross Conference, which had taken place in Stockholm a year earlier , the proposal came to make the Red Cross the only recognized symbol of protection and thus to remove the Red Crescent and the Red Lion with the red sun from the conventions . In addition, Israel suggested adding the red Star of David as an additional protective symbol to the existing three symbols. The two first-mentioned proposals were rejected after a corresponding debate without a vote, as was a suggestion that was subsequently made by Burma to allow each country or national society to freely decide on its emblem. The Israeli proposal was initially rejected within a corresponding committee of the conference by 21 votes to ten with eight abstentions. Further votes in the plenary did not result in a majority in favor of recognizing the Red Shield of David, with 22-21 with seven abstentions and 24-18 with three abstentions.
In 1950 the Knesset passed a law that gave MDA exclusive responsibility in Israel for emergency rescue, ambulance transport, disaster control, general training in first aid and blood donation services. In addition, according to this law, MDA is obliged to support the medical service of the Israeli army in caring for the wounded and refugees in the event of a war . With this law, MDA was assigned the typical tasks that are performed in other countries by the national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The extension of the Geneva Conventions to include further symbols with religious or national references was subsequently repeatedly rejected by the International Committee of the Red Cross, for example requests from India and Sri Lanka . However, by recognizing a number of national Red Crescent Societies, the ICRC has deviated several times from the procedure originally planned in 1949 that national societies founded after 1949 would only be recognized if the Red Cross was used. At the diplomatic conference from 1974 to 1977, at which the first and second additional protocols to the Geneva Conventions were adopted, Israel again submitted a proposal to supplement the conventions. This envisaged the recognition of the red Star of David as a protective symbol in areas where it had already been established through prolonged use. However, this proposal was withdrawn by the Israeli delegation without a vote in the further course of the conference, as the renewed rejection seemed likely.
On May 8, 2001, World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day , MDA and the Palestinian Red Crescent received the "Lisl and Leo Eitinger Prize for Human Rights" from the University of Oslo for the cooperation between the two organizations for the benefit of humanity under difficult conditions. The symbolic starting point of this cooperation was the joint care of ten Israeli soldiers wounded in a traffic accident and their Palestinian driver by rescue workers from both organizations in October 2000.
Current developments
Due to the controversy surrounding the mark used by MDA, the organization was not a national association recognized by the ICRC until June 2006. The reason for this was Article 4 of the Statutes of the Movement, which provides for the use of one of the trademarks recognized in the Geneva Conventions as one of ten requirements for recognition. Because of the non-recognition by the ICRC, MDA was not a full member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies until June 2006, but only had observer status in the general assembly of the Federation. However, due to its excellent work and the recognition of the principles of the movement by MDA, the organization enjoyed a high reputation within the movement despite these restrictions and was involved in its activities in a variety of ways. Both the ICRC and the International Federation were represented by representatives in Israel before 2006 in order to coordinate possible collaborations with MDA.
In December 2005, a third additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Geneva. This provides for the introduction of a red crystal as an additional neutral protective symbol. Both Israel and Magen David Adom specifically endorsed the protocol in advance. Shortly before the conference, an agreement was signed between the MDA and the Palestinian Red Crescent that regulates the responsibilities and cooperation in the Palestinian territories. During the conference, Syria suddenly called for a similar agreement for the Syrian Red Crescent and its access to the Golan Heights . However, intensive negotiations between the MDA and the Syrian delegation, mediated by the ICRC, did not result in an amicable solution. For this reason, the third additional protocol was not adopted by consensus, but after a vote with a result of 98 to 27 with ten abstentions.
The third additional protocol enables Magen David Adom to continue to use the Red Shield of David as a sign within Israel's borders. In the case of humanitarian aid missions abroad, MDA can, after consultation with the country concerned, use either its emblem within the red crystal or the red crystal without an additional mark. The red crystal will also be used by the Israeli side as a protective symbol in armed conflicts. In June 2006, within the framework of the 29th International Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference, the statutes of the international movement were expanded to include the red crystal as an additional, equal symbol. The corresponding changes were adopted by the 178 delegations from national societies and 148 delegations from the States parties to the Geneva Conventions present with 237 votes in favor and 54 against, with 18 abstentions. On the basis of this decision, the ICRC decided to recognize the MDA and the Palestinian Red Crescent as national aid organizations. In addition, both organizations were accepted as full members of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
As a result of these agreements, MDA officially withdrew from the West Bank and East Jerusalem . Vehicles that are still used for settlements no longer belong to the organization itself, but to a specially founded 'Rescue Service for Judea and Samaria '. The use of the red Star of David was prohibited in August 2011, and in June 2013 the use of the corresponding life jackets was also prohibited for a short time. Each of these steps was sharply criticized by the settler movement. Despite this separation, the symbols and logos are still in use. Since the paramedics are often radical settlers, there is always criticism of rescue workers who refuse to care for wounded Palestinian assassins.
literature
- Ernst Birnbaum : Red Star of David over Israel: The story of Magen David Adom. A humanitarian documentary. Velbert and Kettwig 1969
- François Bugnion: The red cross and red crescent emblems. In: International Review of the Red Cross. 272/1989. ICRC, pp. 408-419, ISSN 1560-7755
- Cornelio Sommaruga: Unity and Plurality of the emblems. In: International Review of the Red Cross. 289/1992. ICRC, pp. 333-338, ISSN 1560-7755
- Felice D. Gaer: Israel and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: The Status of Magen David Adom. The American Jewish Committee, New York 2000
Web links
- Magen David Adom official website: English , Hebrew
-
Israel's Magen David Adom society: key facts on ICRC support
Information from the International Committee of the Red Cross on cooperation with MDA -
Red Cross Red Crescent - Speech on MDA
Text of a speech by the representative of the International Federation in Israel, October 2001 - Friends of Magen David Adom in Switzerland
Individual evidence
- ↑ Current data 2011 by email from ... @ mda.org.il, OTRS Ticket #: 2011052210006002
- ↑ www.ifrc.org Magen David Adom (English). Accessed November 23, 2013.
- ^ Mordecai Naor: Eretz Israel: das 20. Jahrhundert, Könemann, Cologne, 1998, ISBN 3-89508-594-4 , p. 163
- ↑ Why Wasn't the Hurt Palestinian Assailant Treated? , Ha-Aretz on May 2, 2016