Israel has been grudgingly accepted as a member of the ICRC, over Syria’s objections. Good to know they steamrollered over Syria, but now I can definitively say: Eff off, ICRC.
I understand that Magen David Adom wants to be part of the global organization of rescue services, for all the right reasons. But I cannot countenance Jewish symbols being given second-class status when the Cross and the Crescent are so obviously religiously-based symbols. It is patently untrue to suggest they are not when the Swiss government’s own website states otherwise.
But then, the world has known to be utterly full of crap when dealing with Jewish issues. Why should this one be any different?
I’ll still raise money for Magen David Adom. But I’ll be using only the Star of David as a symbol. Screw that stupid diamond thing.
Simmer down, Meryl. Think of it this way: For the first time in several thousand years there is a new, internationally recognized symbol for “Jew.” It could be worse. They could have chosen a design of concentric red circles, the “Israeli Red Bullseye”—so much easier to center in your rocket-sights.
The fact is, the way is now open for Magen David Adom to join the ICRC (or is it now the ICRCC&C?). No one was or is going to stop using red crosses and crescents and there was no practical possibility that the Arabs were going to accept the Magen David, so this is as good as we could hope for. Still, we should celebrate and emphasize the facts that: (A) Israel should now be accepted as a full member, (B) Not just Syria but all the Arabs have been forced to back down on their exclusion of Israel. Do you suppose any of them did it willingly and gladly? And (C ) Wherever in the world the news cameras catch an image of a red “crystal,” everyone will know that Israel is helping the suffering (of course, it could always be Eritrea or Kazakhstan instead).
Paul M. I disagree. It is by giving into the baby behavior of the Arabs that leads us downt he path to illegitmacy.
Until the world stops paying respect to Arab “greivances” and forces them to grow up and act like adults, we are truly in for a cycle of whatever comes to us.
I don’t know if you have children, but try giving into to a two-year old. It doesn’t satisfy them, but temporarily.
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Re: #2
I do indeed have a kid. She has a will of iron, which I have spent 16 years wrestling with. The experience has encouraged me to try and guage which battles I can win, which ones I can’t, and which can only be won at a price not worth paying.
J.L: First understand that the ICRC does have a legitimate argument. They need to have Red Cross personnel immediately and unmistakably identified as neutrals in war zones. The fair solution is to do away with both crosses and crescents and have everyone use the “crystal.” That’s not going to happen, for several reasons, and there is no way Israel can force it to happen. But if the ICRC grants Israel the Magen David, they will have to agree to Eritrea using its own symbol and, if I remember right, Kazakhstan using something else. Etc., etc., etc. until “immediately and unmistakably” goes out the window.
On the other hand, the Arabs now agree to the “crystal” as an alternative. If Israel refused to accept this solution, she would remain stuck outside the organization indefinitely and would get no sympathy or further consideration, because she would be universally blamed for intransigence.
Is this unfair? A bit. Is it useful to in effect make the “crystal” a euphemism for the Magen David? Barely. Does Israel have the power or support—now or in the foreseeable future—to get a solution it likes better? Nope.
Ah, but you see, this is not about antisemitism at all – everybody knows that a fine upstanding agency like the ICRC would never be antisemitic. Why next, you’ll suspect that member agencies are allowing terrorists to hide in their ambulances or something like that. No, this is about consistency and alliteration. Look:
ICRCRed CRossRed CRescent
Red CRogen David? No… but Red CRystal fits the pattern :)
Now, if we just renamed the star somehow… Red CRysanthenemenem, anyone? :)