Wiesenthal Center: Magen David Adom's Long Overdue Acceptance To International Red Cross Corrects Historic Injustice And Will Bolster Future Humanitarian Efforts

June 22, 2006

     
                                            
Wiesenthal Center: Magen David Adom's Long Overdue Acceptance To International Red Cross  Corrects Historic Injustice And Will Bolster Future Humanitarian Efforts

The Simon Wiesenthal Center expressed satisfaction today that the International Red Cross (IRC) movement has approved changes to its statute, accepting a neutral emblem and including Israel’s Magen David Adom. "We especially applaud the unstinting commitment by the American Red Cross during the last few years to push this issue to a just conclusion. The Wiesenthal Center also wants to thanks the tens of thousands of its members who pressed the IRC and its member states to finally accept Israel's Magen David,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.  “Today’s development will bolster future humanitarian efforts. It is our hope that the Arab and Muslim nations who voted against these changes will one day soon come to treat Israel as a friend and neighbor, not as the enemy.” Cooper concluded.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States.  It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, and the Council of Europe. 

For more information, please contact the Center’s Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036