I am not sure this I actually DO consider Red Cross a political organization for several reasons. Although I think it does good work, and useful work, its become so top heavy that it often isn't as effective as it could be. As for my reasons I think its a political organization, well, here's my #1 reason:
For those of you who aren't aware, the International Red Cross has repeatedly denied Israel's Magen David Adom (Red Jewish Star) membership to the International Red cross. Israel's orgnazation is one of the best in the world, responding to disasters in countries around the world, often before the international Red Cross itself can respond. Even though its help is often refused in Muslim countries (as it was most recently turned away during the Tsunami--even while people were desperately in need of help), its services are very well regarded. Many reasons have been given for the denial of membership, including the Jewish star isn't the appropriate symbol to be used for this ornanization (even though, as should be, the Muslim Red Crecent Agencies are members). Year after year, Israel's membership is denied. If that's not political, I am not sure what is. I will never contribute to Red Cross...but happily donate to other organizations that I truly believe are out there helping folks who are in need. I'd be glad to point to more resources about this via private email. -----Original Message----- From: Jake . [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 9:30 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: Katrina Relief and BlogFusion >I agree, I was interested but due to my experience with the Red Cross as a >flood victim I will NEVER contribute to the Red Cross. > >On 9/2/05, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Well, my concern was the same as many of you with Red Cross - especially after having gone through 9/11 up close and seeing the cluster that was the Red Cross participation. I don't consider the Red Cross a "political organization" any more or less than the United Way or the Salvation Army. Heck, the Salvation Army has a "position" built into the name, for crying outloud. But on my personal blog, one of my guest bloggers actually works for the Red Cross, and when prompted about the Red Cross problems of past, he answered in a way that made me feel much better about things. You can find the thread here: http://www.smackmybooty.com/index.cfm?commentID=1287 (Be sure to read his comments) He also posted some interesting thoughts about the Red Cross here: http://www.smackmybooty.com/index.cfm?commentID=1299 But in short, I feel that right or wrong, the Red Cross has the best access, the biggest infrastructure, and the most experience dealing with things on this scale. I'd wanted to go with them originally, but decided against it because of my own hangups about them, as mentioned earlier. If you'd like to take me up on the offer, but want to do something different, check out this other relief project I'm working on: http://www.smackmybooty.com/index.cfm?commentID=1293 Thanks for your support for these efforts, no matter what you decide to do. Jake blogfusion.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:217358 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
