By COLlive reporter
A revengeful campaign against the Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical and ambulance service, for excluding some Israeli citizens, is taking its toll.
Settlers refused to donate blood to the organization after it agreed to the demands of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) not to serve Judea and Samaria towns and villages.
Although it had originally denied the reports, MDA agreed that it signed a document not to serve areas that are not recognized internationally as within Israel’s borders, such as Kiryat Arba (Chevron), Efrat, Maaleh Adumim, Ariel, Kedumim and parts of Jerusalem.
MDA also agreed to removed its Jewish symbol from ambulances, Red Cross official Par Stanback told Israeli radio. The document was first exposed by Arutz Sheva / Israel National News.
Many contributors have stopped donating to MDA since the agreement was disclosed, the website reported. Yesha youth, a considerable percentage of the volunteer force, stopped volunteering for MDA in protest.
One of MDA’s bigger losses was the decline in blood donations.
“The Religious Zionist institutions and the Hesder Yeshivot were until today our ‘heavy’ and regular donors,” an MDA official told the Maariv daily. “And we have since been in a dramatic decline (because of the ban).”
In the past, MDA would send their Mobile Blood Donor Units to the settlements and return with hundreds of blood donations.
Joining the boycott of the settlers, are the student unions of religious academic institutions such as Machon Lev, Michleles Emuna, Machon Tal and Efrata.
Veteran settler leader Benny Katzover stated, “we are still donating blood, but not to MDA. The goal is to prevent MDA any financial gain of our blood.”
MDA sells the blood it collects to hospitals and medical centers. Katzover said they are just cutting off the middle men and donating the blood directly.
I have had bad experiences when donating via MDA and had I known how they distribute the blood I would never have given through them. Where else can I donate in EY (anywhere in EY – when I go I “get around”).
well there goes my MDA donation
when heir telemarketers call asking for a donation, give hem a phone # in ramalah!
As long as people are still finding a way to donate blood for their fellow Jews, it’s a GREAT idea to sidestep the MDA. Let them collect their donations from the Red Crescent. That a Jewish organization would trample on the legitimacy and feelings of their fellow Jewish citizens just to gain membership into some self-agrandizing organization reminds me of Jewish traitors throughout history who would support their enemies as long as they assumed it would benefit them. To paraphrase an American president ‘those who think they can ride the back of the tiger are soon swallowed by it.’ For… Read more »
Using the word, “revengeful” imply’s, especially to readers whom aren’t familiar, with the political culture in Israel, that the Settlers are at fault, when in reality its the national MDA ORG, that shamefully sold out, setting a precedent for other Jewish-Israeli ORG’S, to also disassociate themselves, from the Jewish right to the entire Holy Land, WATCH parshas Shmois JEM from the this year, to watch the REBBE talk about Shlamious Haaretz.