Yesterday the White House announced that President Bush was transmitting to the Senate for ratification Protocol III to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem. In simple terms, Protocol III (full text) recognizes a new symbol, the red crystal, for use by the International Red Cross in addition to the currently recognized red cross and red crescent used by humanitarian bodies in various countries.
Behind this announcement lay a long history of political disputes within the International Red Cross. When the state of Israel was formed, it did not feel it appropriate to adopt a cross or crescent for its humanitarian organization. So instead it adopted a red star of David as the symbol for its equivalent group, the Magen David Adom (MDA). This became an excuse for Arab countries to exclude Israel from membership in the International Committee of the Red Cross, arguing that there is a risk of confusion in the proliferation of symbols by ICRC organizations. Nevertheless, the MDA, which has particular expertise in disaster relief, has cooperated closely with the IRC since the 1990's. Under pressure from the American Red Cross which has withheld millions of dollars in dues to protest MDA's exclusion, in 2005 a compromise was reached. By a vote of 98-27 with 10 abstentions, the Red Cross Movement voted to create a new third neutral symbol- the red crystal.
The Red Crystal will actually serve two purposes. It will be able to be used alone in countries where use of a religious symbol is problematic. But it will also be able to be used by national Red Cross organizations that can place their own symbol inside the diamond shaped red crystal. So MDA will be able to use the crystal with the star of David inside as its internationally recognized symbol.
The final step in approving all of this, which was supposed to be pro forma, is the vote at the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent being held in Geneva yesterday and today. A 2/3 vote of approval is needed. At the last minute, a new problem occurred. Pakistan and Tunisia have insisted on adding language that would effectively condemn Israel's occupation of the West Bank. Conference organizers had hoped that they had a compromise that would avoid this kind of dispute. The group was planning to admit the Palestinian Red Crescent as a member at the same time they adopted the new symbol. But now the prospects for all of this remain uncertain. These developments are covered in stories yesterday and today by the Washington Times, the Gulf Times, and SwissInfo.
UPDATE: U.N. Watch says that as of 4 pm Wednesday afternoon in Geneva, Islamic countries at the ICRC Conference have rejected attempts at compromise, to the dismay of ICRC President Dr. Jakob Kellenberger.
