January 21, 2006

In the early morning hours of December 8 in Geneva, Switzerland, diplomats from over 100 countries voted overwhelmingly to adopt the Third Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions to create a new symbol for the Movement – the red crystal. With the adoption of the Protocol, a long-standing barrier to the admission of the Israeli society – Magen David Adom (MDA) – was removed. For over 50 years, the American Red Cross has been working with our U.S. and international partners to obtain admission of MDA to the Movement. Although much work remains before the hoped-for admission of MDA in June 2006, the adoption of the Red Crystal signals the attainment of a critically important milestone.

On behalf of the American Red Cross, I want to thank a number of people who played a critically important role in adoption of the Red Crystal. We are profoundly grateful for their personal interventions as well as those of their governments as they actively sought the successful resolution of the MDA issue.

Never accepting failure as an option, they and their governments worked tirelessly with the parties as well as interested societies to ensure that the goal of MDA’s admittance into the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement remained a very real possibility – a possibility that unfortunately had eluded the Movement for far too long.

In addition to the individuals named below, I would also like to highlight the courage and wisdom of Dr. Noam Yifrach, Chairman of MDA and Dr. Younis Al-Khatib, President and General Director of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Were it not for their very strong commitment, dedication and courage, this successful conclusion would not have been possible. They are truly the unsung heroes of this entire effort.

We at the American Red Cross are extremely grateful to the following people:

• The Honorable Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State
• His Excellency the Ambassador of Israel Daniel Ayalon
• Her Excellency Micheline Calmy-Ray, Swiss Foreign Minister
• His Excellency Blaise Godet, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Office of the United Nations and the Other International Organizations in Geneva
• His Excellency Didier Pfirter, Special Ambassador of Switzerland
• Shalom Turgeman, Diplomatic Adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel
• Ambassador C. David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
• Ambassador Kevin Moley, Permanent Representative, United Nations and the Other International Organizations in Geneva
• The Honorable Richard Greene, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration
• The Honorable John B. Bellinger III , Legal Adviser to the Secretary of State
• Don Juan Manuel Suárez Del Toro Rivero, President, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and president, Spanish Red Cross
• Jakob Kellenberger, President, International Committee of the Red Cross
• Mohamed Al-Hadid, Chairman, Standing Commission, International Red Cross and Red Crescent
• Markku Niskala, Secretary General, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
• François Bugnion, Director for International Law and Cooperation within the Movement, International Committee of the Red Cross
• Chris Lamb, Special Adviser International Representation, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
• Anna Segall, Federation Representative in Israel, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
• Uri Geller, Chairman, Friends of Magen David Adom

With warmest regards and the thanks of all of my colleagues here at the American Red Cross,

Bonnie McElveen-Hunter