THE RED CROSS, RED CRESCENT, RED AND AND THE RED SHIELD OF DAVID

By Shabtai Rosenne*

This article has the limited purpose of re-examining in detail the diplomatic history of what are known as the distinctive emblems of the International Red Cross – the red cross and the emblems of , namely the red crescent in its 1 two forms and the red . – and of describing the efforts that have been made since 1948 to assure for the red shield of David similar de jure recognition. This requires systematic review and reappraisal of the records of a long series of international conferences at which these matters have been considered – the Geneva Conferences of 1863, 1864, 1868, 1906, 1929 and

* LL.B., Ph.D.; Ambassador of Israel, Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Member of the Institute of International Law. The views expressed in this article possess no official status. The arti- cle was completed in May 1975. The following abbreviations are used: Actes 1906 – Convention de Genève, Actes de la Conférence de Révision réunie à Genève du 11 juin au 5 juillet 1906 (1906). Actes 1929 – Actes de la Conférence Diplomatique convoquée par le Conseil Fédéral Suisse pour la révision de la Convention du 6 juillet 1906 pour l’amélioration du sort des blessés et malades dans les armées en campagne et pour l’élaboration d’une Con- vention relative au traitement des prisonniers de guerre et réunie à Genève du 1er au 27 juillet 1929 (1930). Commentary – The Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949. Commentary (of the ICRC) published under the general editorship of Pictet, 4 vols. (1952-1960). Des Gouttes, Commentaire – Les Conventions de Genève du 27 juillet 1929. Commentaire par Des Gouttes (1930) (ICRC auspices). FF. – Feuille Fédérale de la Confédération Suisse. Final Record 1949 – Final Record of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva of 1949 (1950). Handbook – International Red Cross Handbook (1971). ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross. The Laws of Armed Conflicts – Schindler and Toman, The Laws of Armed Conflicts, a Col- lection of Conventions, Resolutions and other Documents (1973). Following the practice of the ICRC, in the following pages “red cross” is printed in lower case when it refers to the emblem, capitals being reserved for the “Red Cross” as an institu- tion (1 Commentary 297). For the same reason lower case letters are used for the designa- tion of the other emblems. 1 The crescent is the symbol of Sunni Islam. It is oriented to the left in Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey and the Muslim areas of the Soviet Union, and to the right (then technically known as the “decrescent”) in the other countries using this emblem. The lion and sun is the em- blem of Shi’i Islam: as an emblem the red lion and sun is used only in (Persia).

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Y. Dinstein and F. Domb (eds.), The Progression of International Law (2011), ISBN 978 90 04 21911 3, pp. 231-278. © Koninklijke Brill NV. Printed in the Netherlands. 232 THE LAW OF ARMED CONFLICT

1949 in the case of the red cross emblem; the conferences at The Hague in 1899 and 1907 and at Geneva in 1906 and 1929 in the case of the emblems of Islam; and the Geneva Conferences of 1949 and 1974-75 in the case of the red shield of David. The convocation of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaf- firmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts (in recess at the time of writing),2 at which Israel is renewing its efforts to regularize once and for all the status of the red shield of David emblem, provides a convenient opportunity for this. By way of preface, the composite and special character of the Interna- tional Red Cross is recalled. It is built up of several constituent elements. The duly recognized national Red Cross societies are grouped together in an international federation – the League of Red Cross Societies. Established in 1919, it comprises all the national Red Cross, Red Crescent and Red Lion and Sun societies that meet the required conditions. The International Committee of the Red Cross, historically the promoter of the work of the Red Cross, is an independent institution governed by its own Statutes, and recruited by co- option from among Swiss citizens. The Statutes of the International Red Cross describe the International Red Cross Conference as the supreme deliberative body of the International Red Cross. This is composed of delegations of the national societies, of the ICRC, of the League and of the States parties to the Geneva Conventions. It follows that the full representation of a country in the Conference is assured on two levels, that of the Government in its capacity of party to the Conventions, and that of the independent national society: and in the Conference each has one vote.3 Israel acceded to the 1929 Conventions during the War of Independence on August 3, 1948, effective six months later in accordance with their terms, on February 3, 1949. It signed the 1949 Conventions subject to reservations regarding the red shield of David (see p. 255 below) at the formal ceremony of signature on December 8, 1949. Its instrument of ratification, confirming those reservations, was deposited with the Swiss Government on July 5, 1951,

2 Geneva. First session, February 20-March 29, 1974; second session, February 3-April 18, 1975; third session, April 21-June 11, 1976 (scheduled), Document symbol CDDH/–. This conference is convoked by the Swiss Government, not by or under the auspices of the United Nations. Nevertheless, following Resolution XXII adopted by the International Con- ference on Human Rights, at Teheran, on May 12, 1968, the question of the revision of the 1949 Conventions has been discussed since in the General Assembly of the United Nations, where a number of resolutions have been adopted. For the Teheran resolution, see The Laws of Armed Conflicts 189. 3 For the Statutes of the International Red Cross, see Handbook 273; for the Statutes of the International Committee of the Red Cross, ibid., 288; for the Constitution of the League of Red Cross Societies, ibid., 292; and for the Rules of Procedure of the International Confer- ence of the Red Cross, ibid., 281.