StandWithUs Letter Writing Initiative to International Red Cross for Medical Information and Visitation on Israel Captured Soldiers

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StandWithUs has organized a letter writing campaign to convince the
International Red Cross to obtain medical information on and to visit the three
Israeli captured soldiers and receive official guarantee that they are accorded
the same attention given by the IRC to other soldiers held captive in other
military conflicts. (The IRC recently admitted Magen David Adom, Israel’s
emergency medical treatment unit.)

The letter and action items are at
_http://www.standwit hus.com/news_ post.asp? NPI=910_ (http://www.standwit hus.com/news_ post.asp? NPI=910 )

Here is a copy:

Mr. Jakob Kellenberger, President
Mr. Olivier Vodoz, Vice-President
Mr. Jacques Forster, Vice-President

International Committee of the Red Cross
19 avenue de la Paix
CH 1202 Geneva
Switzerland
International Committee of the Red Cross
1100 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036

Dear Mr. Kellenberger, Mr. Vodoz and Mr. Forster;

IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit and Reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev,
were kidnapped by Hezbollah and Hamas in cross border terrorist raids into the
sovereign state of Israel and are being held hostage. We seek immediate
assistance from the International Red Cross regarding these three abducted Israeli
soldiers. We appeal to the appropriate Red Cross authorities to immediately
obtain
information on the medical conditions of * and that you also demand the
right to visit – the three Israeli soldiers. We would like your official
guarantee that these three Israeli soldiers are being accorded the same attention
given by the International Red Cross to other soldiers held captive in other
military conflicts.

Since its inception in 1863, the Red Cross has successfully convinced
governments, militias and other military and paramilitary units engaged in fighting
to abide by the Geneva Conventions. Our concern focuses on ensuring that
Hamas and Hezbollah abide by the Third Geneva Convention (GC III) regarding
treatment of uniformed combatants and other military personnel captured or as in
this case, abducted by one side.

Even though Hamas and Hezbollah have been identified by the international
free world as terrorist organizations committed to the
destruction of the State of Israel, they are considered legitimate by the
governments who sponsor them, by the facts that:
(1) Hamas was elected as the government of the Palestinian people and, (2)
Hezbollah is represented in the present Lebanese parliament and cabinet.
Despite UN Resolution 1559, Lebanon has not complied, and has allowed Hezbollah to
operate freely in Southern Lebanon, amass rockets and other deadly munitions
and to deploy Hezbollah terrorists along the border with Israel.

Due to the fact that Hezbollah and Hamas are openly operating under two
distinct governments, (Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority) they must be
required to adhere to international law and the Geneva Conventions and must be
required to provide the ICRC access to the abducted Israeli soldiers.

We are counting on the International Red Cross to uphold your humanitarian
role regarding prisoners-of- war and military hostages in the current
Hezbollah-Hamas -Israel crisis.

The Undersigned Organizations,

Roz Rothstein, National Director,
StandWithUs

Gary Ratner, Executive Director, Western Region,
American Jewish Congress

Dr. Charles Jacobs, President,
David Project

Doris Wise Montrose, Acting President,
Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors Los Angeles

Organizations are encouraged to sign on as signers. To-date, American
Jewish Congress, the David Project and Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors Los
Angles joined. Contact _campus@standwithus .com _
(mailto:campus@standwithus. com ) to be added as a signer to the letter on the website.

Letters should be addressed to: _washington. was@icrc. org _
(mailto:washington.was@ icrc.org ) with a copy to _info@standwithus. com _
(mailto:info@standwithus. com )

Telephone (Geneva):
011 41 22 730 42 22
(call monday through friday business hours- Geneva)
FAX GENEVA: 011 41 22 733 20 57
Fax to the American Red Cross: 202-587-4696

SEND YOUR LETTER BY MAIL TO:
International Red Cross
1100 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036

AND

International Red Cross
19 avenue de la Paix
CH 1202, Geneva

StandWithUs, an international, non-profit Israel advocacy and education
organization creates brochures and materials widely distributed in universities,
libraries, high schools, churches and communities, takes annual missions to
Israel and hosts speakers and conferences that teach about Israel’s current
struggles. SWU was founded in 2001 in response to the second Intifada. Based
in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Jerusalem and Detroit.
StandWithUs Campus helps college students fight anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias on
campuses. Stand4Facts is a password accessible site that is a database of
information on anti-Israel speakers. _http://www.standwit hus.com/_
(http://www.standwit hus.com/ )

StandWithUs Letter Writing Initiative to International Red Cross for Medical Information and Visitation on Israel Captured Soldiers

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