109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 113

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

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;

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
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SCON 113 ES

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

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;
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SCON 113 ES

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;

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;
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SCON 113 ES

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 hu5 manitarian assistance to all those in need of aid,

6 even those responsible for heinous atrocities against

7 Israeli civilians;

8 (2) congratulates the Magen David Adom Soci9 ety, and the Government and people of Israel, for se10 curing full membership in the International Red

11 Cross and Red Crescent Movement, 57 years past

12 due;
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SCON 113 ES

1 (3) thanks the President, the Secretary of

2 State, and United States diplomatic representatives

3 for their tireless pursuit and maintenance of the

4 international consensus that culminated in the re5 cent acceptance of the Magen David Adom Society

6 as a full member in the International Red Cross and

7 Red Crescent Movement;

8 (4) thanks the American Red Cross for its un9 wavering and unyielding insistence within the Inter10 national Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

11 that the principles of international humanitarian law

12 could not be reconciled with continued exclusion of

13 the Magen David Adom Society;

14 (5) thanks the Government of Switzerland and

15 officials of the International Committee of the Red

16 Cross for helping to prepare the necessary consensus

17 and carrying to completion the adoption of the Third

18 Additional Protocol by the states party to the Gene19 va Conventions and the rules for its implementation;

20 and

21 (6) commends the President for—

22 (A) submitting the Third Additional Pro23 tocol to the Senate for its advice and consent;

24 and
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SCON 113 ES

1 (B) pending approval by the Senate, pre2 paring for congressional consideration and en3 actment of legislation necessary to carry into ef4 fect the Third Additional Protocol.

Passed the Senate August 1, 2006.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 113

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Congratulating the Magen David Adom Society in

and for other purposes.national Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement,Israel for achieving full membership in the Inter-