Res. No. 1807 Title Resolution calling upon the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to heed the call of international opinion-and of justice-and make the appropriate amendments to its statutes to recognize the emblem of the Magen David Adom Society as an official protective symbol, and to admit the Magen David Adom Society as a full member. Body By The Speaker (Council Member Vallone) and Council Members Nelson, Berman, Dear, Malave-Dilan, Eisland, Freed, Henry, Marshall and Reed; also Council Members Fisher, Foster, Michels, O'Donovan, Rodriguez and Abel Whereas, It is the mission of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to alleviate human suffering, wherever in the world it may be found, without discrimination; and Whereas, It is only by adherence to these principles of global action and non-discrimination that the Movement can persist as a credible, neutral body for relief in the wake of disaster, natural or man-made; and Whereas, The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a worldwide institution in which all national member societies have equal status and share equal responsibility; and Whereas, The State of Israel has ratified the Geneva conventions which govern the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement; and Whereas, The Magen David Adom is the national humanitarian relief society in the State of Israel and follows all the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement; and Whereas, Inexplicably, then, the Magen David Adom is excluded from full membership in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, solely because its insignia is not an official protective symbol recognized by either the Geneva Conventions governing the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement or the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement; and Whereas, The State of Israel has unsuccessfully attempted in the past to amend the Geneva Conventions to allow for the emblematic recognition of the Magen David Adom Society; and Whereas, The American Red Cross has supported Magen David Adom and endorsed its full membership in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement since the Magen David Adom Society's inception in 1980; and Whereas, Furthermore, it has been the stated position of the United States government that Magen David Adom should be admitted as a full member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement; and Whereas, The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement can function freely throughout the world only because of the trust inspired by its commitment to neutrality; and Whereas, This continued and baseless exclusion of the Magen David Adom Society undermines the ability of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to act as a neutral relief organization; and Whereas, Inclusion of the Magen David Adom Society serves also to foster goodwill between nations based upon mutual respect; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to heed the call of international opinion-and of justice-and make the appropriate amendments to its statutes recognizing the emblem of the Magen David Adom Society as an official protective symbol, and to admit the Magen Adom David Society as a full member. SF:bg LS#4020 D-Res.#6 3/23/01 |10
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