MDA is part of the family
MAGEN David Adom (MDA) delegates visiting Australia for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Statutory Meetings last week have described membership of the organisation as being like part of a family.
MAGEN David Adom (MDA) delegates visiting Australia for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Statutory Meetings last week have described membership of the organisation as being like part of a family.
MDA immediate past president Professor Yehuda Skornick and disaster management and EU projects coordinator Chaim Rafalowski, who spoke to The AJN, were joined by director general Eli Bin and Head of Logistics Alon Friedman at the conference.
While declining to mention names for their protection, both said they had experienced warm and productive dealings with delegates from countries hostile to Israel.
“The Red Cross is far more than anything else, a family,” Rafalowski said.
“You have to totally separate the political relationship between Israel and other states that are represented here and [the]personal relationship that our leadership has with national societies that have no political relationship with Israel and sometimes are even considered adversary to Israel.”
He said a main focus of the conference in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines was how to prepare for natural disasters. “Israel, sitting on an active geological fault is prone to a major earthquake. We need to be prepared for that,” he said.
Rafalowski played down controversy surrounding MDA’s agreement to join the international Red Cross, in particular reports suggesting a membership condition precluded it from directly servicing the West Bank.
“Magen David Adom is still working in the West Bank. And this is something that has to be clear,” he said.
“Everybody understands that there is no substitute to our life saving services for Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank.”
He said volunteer ambulances all over Israel – not just in the West Bank – were marked differently to differentiate them from those manned by paid MDA staff.
“If somebody wants to politicise that, it’s their issue,” he said.
He also paid tribute to the support MDA receives from around the world.
“Without the support of Friends of MDA all over the world – Australia is one of the strongest – MDA would not exist,” he said.
GARETH NARUNSKY
Chaim Rafalowski and Yehuda Skornick.
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