Red Cross moves to accept new emblem

Years of campaigning is on the verge of bringing the Israelis and Palestinians into the Red Cross humanitarian movement, thanks to a pending solution in Switzerland to bridge long-standing sensitivities over Crusaders, crosses and crescents.

The two-day International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which opened today in Geneva, is being asked to approve changes to meet Israeli demands of almost six decades that it be granted full membership without using the cross or crescent to identify itself.

At the centre of the plan is the addition of a third, neutral emblem – a blank, red-bordered square standing on one corner – that could stand alone or frame the Red Shield of David of the Israeli rescue society Magen David Adom.

The emblem – dubbed the “red crystal” – was approved over Muslim objections in a hard-fought diplomatic conference last December. But that was only the first step, and the conference has been called to complete the job.

“I am delighted that the success of the conference favours the achievement of an objective that is really important to us: that of the universality of the movement,” Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said in her opening speech.

“All the relevant parties, and I’m thinking in particular of the national Israeli and Palestinian societies, will finally be able to participate actively in its decisions,” Calmy-Rey said. “They will be able to respond to the growing humanitarian needs in the region in an even more effective and co-ordinated way.”

The simple red cross on a white background – the reversal of colours of the Swiss flag – was adopted as the emblem of the movement when it was founded in 1863 after Swiss humanitarian Henry Dunant was horrified by the carnage and unattended casualties he saw during a one-day battle between Austrian and Franco-Sardinian forces on June 24, 1859, at Solferino, Italy.

But the symbol unintentionally reminded Muslims of the Christian Crusaders, and they insisted on their own red crescent in the 19th century.

When Israel’s society bid for membership in 1949, it objected to using either the cross or crescent and the Red Cross movement refused to admit yet another emblem.

The society and its friends, including the American Red Cross, have been campaigning for years to find a way out of the stalemate.

While there has been some interest outside the Middle East in the new emblem, it was designed primarily to meet Israel’s objections. Magen David Adom can combine it with the red star to create a new logo.

Israel’s military will be able to use the crystal by itself on a white flag as an emblem protecting medics and other humanitarian workers helping war casualties.

Eritrea is considering using the crystal to contain both the cross and crescent if its society joins the movement. Some Europeans have weighed using it temporarily in areas where the cross or crescent alone may be unwelcome.

But any society could combine the emblem with the cross or crescent – or both - for temporary use.

The crystal was initially approved in December by the diplomatic conference of the 192 nations that have signed the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war. Now the crystal must be accepted by the full movement, which also includes the international bodies of the Red Cross and the 183 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies.

Besides welcoming the Israeli society, the conference also is being asked to admit the Palestine Red Crescent. Ordinarily societies have to be associated with a sovereign state, which isn’t the case for the Palestinians. But international officials want a special exception because of Middle East tensions.

“We’re all aware that in the six months since the diplomatic conference have been marked by increased tensions in the Middle East and by a serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation, notably in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” Calmy-Rey said.

“For us it’s a great advantage that they both be recognised simultaneously, that they are both equal, that they both play by the same rules and are accountable to same group of their peers,” said Ian Piper, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

As part of the package last year, Magen David Adom and the Palestinian body agreed to allow each other’s paramedics to operate unmolested. But that wasn’t enough to sway the Arab vote.

International Red Cross officials would like to see the changes approved by consensus, but say that if they have to go to a vote a two-thirds majority of those present and voting can pass them.