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The Magen David Adom is Israel's only official emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. The name means "Red Star of David."
History
The Magen David Adom organisation was formed in 1930 as a volunteer outfit with a single branch in Tel Aviv. After opening branches in Jerusalem and Haifa, it was extended nationwide five years later, providing medical support to the public and the Haganah. In 1950 the Knesset passed a law making MDA's status as Israel's national emergency service official.
Current Status
The MDA's staff of 1200, plus 10,000 volunteers, operates 95 stations which in turn operates a fleet of over 700 ambulances nationwide. It serves as an auxiliary arm of the Israeli military during times of war.
Involvement with the Red Cross
Since its creation, Magen David Adom has been denied membership in the International Red Cross (IRC) since it refused to replace its red Star of David emblem with a red cross.
The official reason for the denial of membership is concerns about symbol proliferation; at the same 1929 conference which granted use of the Red Crescent and Red Lion And Sun, a limitation was placed on acceptance of any further emblems. (The "Red Star of David" symbol was not submitted to the ICRC until 1931) As such, MDA is not the only national emergency service to have been denied full membership of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Similar concerns of India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and the former USSR regarding the use of non-Hindu and overtly religious symbols were also dismissed by the ICRC, but their national bodies chose to adopt the Red Cross as their official emblems in order to gain entry.
Critics of the IRC assert discrimination since Turkey, Iran and Egypt were granted membership in 1929 while using the Islamic Red Crescent as their emblem, citing the same concerns about the cross. Doctor Bernadine Healy, then president of the American Red Cross also rejected this argument in a March, 2000 letter to the International Herald Tribune, "The international committee's feared proliferation of symbols is a pitiful fig leaf, used for decades as the reason for excluding the Magen David Adom - the Shield (or Star) of David." In protest, the American Red Cross has withheld millions in administrative funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross since May 2000.
Despite the continued lack of official recognition, since the mid 1990's, there has been extensive and growing co-operation between the MDA and the ICRC including inter alia.: A 2.2 million US dollar spend on strengthening ties between the two organisations, the signing in 2004 of a 2 year co-operation statement, the permanent placement of an ICRC co-operation officer in MDA headquarters, and extensive support of the MDA's blood bank activities. In addition, there are bilateral cooperation agreements between MDA and a number of national Red Cross societies.
External links
- Hatzolah Israel Affiliate of Magen David Adom that provides first response to medical emergencies.
- MDA, USA - A Support Site in English
- MDA Israel (in English)
- MDA Israel (in Hebrew)
- ICRC page discussing relationship with the MDA
- MDA page discussing relationship with the ICRC
- American Red Cross page discussing relationship with MDA
- IRC Discrimination, Jewish Virtual Library
- Canadian Court Denies Charity Status of Israel's Red Star of David