III 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 113 

Congratulating the Magen David Adom Society in Israel for achieving full 

membership in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2006 

Mrs. CLINTON (for herself and Mrs. DOLE) submitted the following concurrent 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Congratulating the Magen David Adom Society in Israel 

for achieving full membership in the International Red 

Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and for other purposes. 

Whereas international humanitarian law is, quintessentially, 

about principle, establishing standards of conduct that 

can not be breached under any circumstance, or for any 

calculation of political efficacy or utility; 

Whereas the International Red Cross and Red Crescent 

Movement is a worldwide institution in which all national 

Red Cross and Red Crescent societies have equal status, 

whose mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering 

wherever it may be found, without discrimination; 


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•SCON 113 IS 

Whereas the Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) Society is the national humanitarian society in Israel and has 

performed heroically, aiding all in need of assistance, on 

a purely humanitarian basis, without bias, even those responsible for acts of horrific violence against Israeli civilians; 

Whereas, since 1949, the Magen David Adom Society has 

been refused admission into the International Red Cross 

and Red Crescent Movement and has been relegated to 

observer status without a vote because it has used the 

Red Shield of David, the only such national organization 

denied membership in the Movement; 

Whereas the red cross symbol was intended as the visible expression of the neutral status enjoyed by the medical 

services of the armed forces and the protection thus conferred, and there is not, and has never been, any implicit 

religious connection in the cross; 

Whereas, since its establishment in 1930, the Magen David 

Adom Society has worked under its own symbol, the Red 

Star of David, as an expression of the humanitarian values the Magen David Adom Society shares with the Red 

Cross and Red Crescent societies; 

Whereas Israel acceded to the Geneva Conventions in 1951 

with a reservation specifying their intent to continue to 

use the Magen David Adom; 

Whereas international consultations among nations and national Red Cross Societies ensued until 1999, when the 

International Committee of the Red Cross formally called 

for adoption of a protocol to the Geneva Conventions creating a third neutral symbol, allowing the use of either 

the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, or the third neutral 


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•SCON 113 IS 

symbol, and allowing for the third neutral symbol to be 

used in combination with other national Red Cross Society symbols, including the Magen David Adom; 

Whereas a diplomatic conference to adopt this proposal into 

the Geneva Conventions was scheduled for October 2000, 

but was prevented by the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada; 

Whereas the United States, the American Red Cross, and the 

American Friends of Magen David Adom have worked 

ceaselessly to resolve the issue of the third neutral symbol 

and achieve full membership in the International Red 

Cross and Red Crescent Movement for the Magen David 

Adom Society; 

Whereas Congress has insisted that funds made available to 

the International Committee of the Red Cross be contingent on a certification by the Secretary of State confirming that the Magen David Adom Society is a full participant in the activities of the International Red Cross 

and Red Crescent Movement; 

Whereas the American Red Cross has stood alone among all 

the national humanitarian aid societies, and has withheld 

over $45,000,000 in dues to the International Federation 

of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to protest 

the exclusion of the Magen David Adom; 

Whereas the Government of Switzerland, the depositary state 

for the Geneva Conventions, convened a Diplomatic Conference of the states party to the Geneva Conventions in 

December 2005 for the purpose of adopting a Third Additional Protocol and rightly resisted efforts to block the 

broad international consensus in favor of resolving the 

third neutral symbol question; 


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Whereas the efforts by the United States and the American 

Red Cross at the Diplomatic Conference in December 

2005 were critical to achieving both an overwhelming 

positive vote in favor of adopting the Third Additional 

Protocol, as well as an extremely important memorandum 

of understanding between the Magen David Adom and 

the Palestinian Red Crescent Society; 

Whereas sustaining international support for the adoption of 

the third neutral symbol against efforts to divert the conference into unrelated political matters required extraordinary diplomatic efforts by the United States and the 

American Red Cross; 

Whereas the Third Additional Protocol adopted in Geneva in 

December 2005 established the new third neutral symbol, 

the ‘‘red crystal’’ that can be used in conjunction with 

the Red Shield of David and cleared the way for Israeli 

membership in the international movement; 

Whereas, in June 2006, the states party to the Geneva Conventions, the national humanitarian aid societies, the 

International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the International Committee of the 

Red Cross met in Geneva to adopt rules implementing 

the Third Additional Protocol; and 

Whereas, at the June 2006 meeting in Geneva, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement accepted 

the Magen David Adom Society as a full member: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) commends the Magen David Adom Society 

4 for its long and distinguished record of providing huVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:06 Jul 22, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SC113.IS SC113

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1 manitarian assistance to all those in need of aid, 

2 even those responsible for heinous atrocities against 

3 Israeli civilians; 

4 (2) congratulates the Magen David Adom Soci5 ety, and the Government and people of Israel, for se6 curing full membership in the International Red 

7 Cross and Red Crescent Movement, 57 years past 

8 due; 

9 (3) thanks the President, the Secretary of 

10 State, and United States diplomatic representatives 

11 for their tireless pursuit and maintenance of the 

12 international consensus that culminated in the re13 cent acceptance of the Magen David Adom Society 

14 as a full member in the International Red Cross and 

15 Red Crescent Movement; 

16 (4) thanks the American Red Cross for its un17 wavering and unyielding insistence within the Inter18 national Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement 

19 that the principles of international humanitarian law 

20 could not be reconciled with continued exclusion of 

21 the Magen David Adom Society; 

22 (5) thanks the Government of Switzerland and 

23 officials of the International Committee of the Red 

24 Cross for helping to prepare the necessary consensus 

25 and carrying to completion the adoption of the Third 


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1 Additional Protocol by the states party to the Gene2 va Conventions and the rules for its implementation; 

3 and 

4 (6) commends the President for— 

5 (A) submitting the Third Additional Pro6 tocol to the Senate for its advice and consent; 

7 and 

8 (B) pending approval by the Senate, pre9 paring for congressional consideration and en10 actment of legislation necessary to carry into ef11 fect the Third Additional Protocol. 

Æ 


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