By Nitsana Darshan Leitner
BNEI BRAK, Israel –There are so many wicked villains connected to the Oct. 7th tragedy. From the Hamas terrorists who perpetrated the attack, to the Qatari government which paid for it, to the UN Secretary General who insists we have to “contextualize” it. And then there is the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) which shirks its legal and moral responsibilities and pretends there is a legitimate justification as to why it has abandoned us Israelis during these dark hours.
Worse, the Red Cross continues to blame Israel, outrageously demanding that the Jewish State itself work out how to gain access to the hostages. Rather than demanding that the Red Cross be provided access and be allowed to deliver medicine, as they have with many other captives held by other terrorists around the world, they echo Hamas’ demand for a ceasefire and point the finger at Israel, the victim.
As such, we have brought an unprecedented lawsuit against the Red Cross on behalf of the families of the Israeli hostages and those captives who had been released, in the Jerusalem District Court. This is the first time this Geneva based humanitarian aid agency has been sued for not fulfilling its mandate. We alleged that the Red Cross has breached its moral and legal duty to protect the wellbeing, health and rights of the Israelis being held by the terrorist Hamas organization. The lawsuit follows the legal demand letter we sent, signed by more than 1,200 attorneys shortly after Oct. 7th, demanding that the Red Cross speak out and act.
We see this as a decades-old pattern with the Red Cross. They did nothing to assist IDF soldier Gilad Shalit who had been held for 5 years by Hamas in Gaza. On its website, the Red Cross apologizes for failing to assist Jews in the Nazi concentration camps in the 1940s. The belated apology rings hollow. Its then leader, Carl Jacob Burckhardt, assisted Nazi criminals Adolf Eichman and Josef Mengele escape to South America at the war’s end. The agency alleges it maintains a special place in international law and under the Geneva Convention, yet it repeatedly fails to act for Jews.
Shurat HaDin’s lawsuit has received widespread media attention which increases the pressure to act. It was covered by The New York Times, Newsweek, Barron’s, and many others. We will not allow the Red Cross to blame the victims!
Wishing everyone a peaceful 2024
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Nitsna Darshon-Leitner is founder and president of Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center.
Great work!!