A MADA ambulance in 1948
UPDATE: TERRORIST ROCKET FIRE AT ISRAELI CIVILIANS CONTINUED SATURDAY NIGHT and CONTINUES SUNDAY MORNING. CHECK ISRAELSTREET BREAKING NEWS.
The sickening and ever-increasing cascade of Israeli government officials and institutions succumbing to the dictates of international organizations whose agendas are decidedly anti-Israel now includes MADA– which has humiliated itself by adhering to the dictates of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross).
‘Magen David Adom’ means ‘Red Star of David’. Founded in 1930, MADA was officially named Israel’s National Emergency Service by the Knesset in 1950. For the next fifty six years, MADA was specifically denied entrance into the ICRC because it refused to replace its Star of David with a cross. Oddly, countries such as Turkey and Egypt that were part of the ICRC were permitted to use an Islamic crescent and they (and other Islamic countries) eventually formed their own Red Crescent Society–but federated themselves with the International Red Cross.
MADA, nevertheless, continued to press the ICRC for membership–primarily because of the money it would receive as being part of the organization. On June 22, 2006 MADA was finally recognized and reluctantly admitted by the ICRC which had come under intense international scrutiny for discriminating against the Israeli organization. After all, in denying admission to MADA in 2002, Cornelio Sommaruga, president of the ICRC , had notoriously asserted: “If we’re going to have the Shield of David, why would we not have to accept the swastika?”
But, as it turns out, this admission was not without conditions–the main one being the use of the Star of David.
MADA was told that it could continue to use the Red Star of David as its sole emblem for indicative purposes within Israel. For indicative use in abroad missions, MADA was told that it would have to, depending on the specific situation in the host country, either incorporate the Red Star of David inside the Red Crystal or use the Red Crystal (a new symbol developed in 2005) alone.
The red cross, the red crescent, and the red crystal. MADA was told that outside of Israel it would have to use the red crystal with a Star of David inside or, if a country objected, just the red crystal. MADA agreed.
All of which brings us to last week. When an ambulance that services Kiryat Arba–located in Judea and Samaria–went in for routine maintenance, MADA removed its Star of David logo and replaced it with a six-pointed star (not drawn as a standard Star of David) in a red circle. Immediately the Jewish community members of Kiryat Arba declared, and rightfully so, that MADA’s action effectively recognized Palestinian sovereignty over their community.
The physical and emotional imbalance cialis generic price mainly causes the sexual dysfunction. So, take proper diet for achieving goal. online cialis pills It revitalizes reproductive organs and boosts your stamina, cialis online store browse around these guys vitality and virility naturally. If she enjoys your social circle then she is going to get based raise for keeps and poof they have passed away, Hehe entirely kidding around on high quality attribute, Although you will find my husband and I choose to have dinner at a local restaurant last night, and by the time we arrived home, I had click to find out cialis uk a case of terrible indigestion.
MADA immediately and outrageously retrenched, announcing that it would not place the Star of David on ambulances that were owned by communities but jointly operated with MADA. And that it would remove the Star of David from all such ambulances across the country. However, the Star of David would remain on other ambulances in Judea and Samaria.
Your humble servant is forced to shake his head in disbelief at MADA’s contortions. Of course, MADA removed the Star of David because the ambulance was operating in Judea and Samaria. Of course, MADA removed the Star of David at the direction of the ICRC. That much is patently obvious and for MADA to claim otherwise is patently absurd. No doubt the MADA decision to backtrack and leave the Star of David on ‘other’ ambulances in Judea and Samaria will not sit well with the ICRC.
But MADA has humiliated itself and Israel–all in the pursuit of money–money that it functioned just as well without prior to 2006. It is past time for MADA to leave the ICRC to the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.
Addendum:
Along with the soldiers of the IDF, no one deserves our praise more than the paramedics and emergency physicians of MADA. Working long hours to tirelessly render aid to those in need, MADA paramedics go into areas and perform medical services that most of us cannot imagine. They are first on the scene at all kinds of medical emergencies including automobile accidents and terrorist attacks. Their knowledge and expertise have saved countless Israeli lives. The men and women of MADA cannot be praised enough–this blog today concerns decisions made by MADA administrators.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.