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The Moral Bankruptcy and Hypocrisy of the International Red Cross

(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker - The 1986 foundational Statutes of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) proclaim that it is "a worldwide humanitarian movement, whose mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found, to protect life and health and ensure respect for the human being, in particular in times of armed conflict." For an organization whose sole purpose and mission is to help victims of wars and human rights violations, it is patently obvious that the ICRC has totally failed in its mission, as reflected in its mishandling of Israel's hostage crisis. The ICRC failed in its most basic responsibilities to the more than 250 kidnap victims from some 20 nations taken hostage as part of Hamas's egregious invasion, mass murder, and rape. Moral and legal responsibility lies chiefly with the Swiss government under whose auspices the ICRC functions, together with the state's parties to the Geneva Conventions who finance its very existence and are in the position to monitor, direct, and influence the ICRC's functioning. Why have they not impressed upon those elements influencing Hamas - chiefly Qatar, Egypt, the UN, and other Arab elements - that Israeli victims of terror and kidnapping are entitled to humane treatment? How is it conceivable that the Swiss government and the ICRC have sat idly for more than 16 months while being openly manipulated and abused by the Hamas terror organization? Rather, they have passively accepted Hamas's refusal to allow the transfer of medications, and medical and humanitarian visits, to the sick and wounded and all illegally-held hostages. Moreover, it challenges all semblance of logic and moral clarity that the ICRC can countenance images of armed, masked terrorists standing on ICRC vehicles displaying the Red Cross emblem and flag while such vehicles transport tortured, suffering, and ill Israeli hostages - and its representatives participating in "release ceremonies" with terrorist leaders. The writer, Director of the Institute for Diplomatic Affairs at the Jerusalem Center, served as Legal Adviser and Deputy Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2025-02-16 00:00:00
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