The Red Cross
News and commentary

This page is set aside for news and analysis of the Red Cross.  For the time being, the articles speak for themselves, and there isn't much of an introduction.




The International Red Cross Double Cross of the Jewish People.  In the pantheon of international organizations that treat Israel with a mix of disdain and indifference, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) is a cut above the rest.  It's not the most loathsome NGO — the United Nations Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA) owns that title — but it has been the most hypocritical organization for the longest period of time.  The ICRC has a track record of shamelessly hyping its humanitarianism amid conflicts while practicing a systematic indifference to Jewish life.  The organization did lots of posturing after the October 7th massacre, mostly lamenting the 'humanitarian crisis' in Gaza that, of course, was precipitated by Hamas.  The notable exception to the pattern of ignoring Jewish victims of war was a Red Cross representative lecturing families of Israelis being held hostage they need to "think about the Palestinian side."  The week after, Hadassah International asked ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric, "Has the Red Cross ever before failed to care for hostages and victims of armed aggression in such a blatant way, or is this treatment reserved for individuals abducted from Israel?"  The answer is:  indeed, it has reserved such treatment for Israelis.  The ICRC has a rich history of going to great lengths to ignore Jewish suffering and getting rewarded for it.

Red Cross giving migrants maps, instructions to cross US border.  The American Red Cross is involved with making a map and guide for migrants trekking to the U.S.-Mexico border, showing them routes from Central America to U.S. border cities and offering tips on how to survive the perilous journey.  First revealed by the Daily Caller, the map shows train routes to cities including El Paso, Texas and Nogales, Arizona.  The map is on the reverse side of a folding pamphlet that appears to be titled "Self Care Messages for Migrants," according to a Google translation.

Red Cross Packets Show Migrants Where To Cross The US Border.  The American Red Cross has maps and guides for migrants to make the dangerous journeys to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to documents exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.  The map, which is part of a packet stamped with the International Committee of the Red Cross and American Red Cross logos, shows a list of resources, including hotels, clinics and shelters where migrants can get support in Mexico and Central America.  The maps include clearly defined lines leading to cities along the U.S. border.  The organization also has a guide to "self care" along the journey, which includes tips on how to survive the desert and disease, how to safely jump on trains, and how to obtain contraceptives.

Red Cross migration map
Red Cross Packets Show Migrants Where To Cross The US Border.  The American Red Cross has maps and guides for migrants to make the dangerous journeys to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to documents exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.  The map, which is part of a packet stamped with the International Committee of the Red Cross and American Red Cross logos, shows a list of resources, including hotels, clinics and shelters where migrants can get support in Mexico and Central America.  The maps include clearly defined lines leading to cities along the U.S. border.  The organization also has a guide to "self care" along the journey, which includes tips on how to survive the desert and disease, how to safely jump on trains, and how to obtain contraceptives.

The climate crisis is not gender neutral.  The climate crisis is far from "gender neutral".  Women and men are affected differently by weather and climate, and therefore need gender-sensitive information and services, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a keynote address. [...] Since taking office at the start of the year, Celeste Saulo says one of her priorities is to foster greater diversity within the WMO, ensuring equitable representation across gender, regional, and cultural lines.  She is committed to implementing the WMO Gender policy which was updated in 2023.  "Women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change and weather-related disasters.  In addition, we know that they have less access to climate information, early warnings, agricultural advisory services, mobile phone technology and financial credit," she told the International Gender Champions event, hosted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The Red Cross Still Hates the Jews.  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has a mandate to "alleviate human suffering, protect life and health, and uphold human dignity," especially during armed conflicts.  It has an annual budget of roughly $2.7 billion to fulfill that mandate.  Yet, when it comes to the Israelis kidnapped by Hamas during the terrorist organization's horrific invasion on October 7, the ICRC has literally done absolutely nothing.  Approximately 136 hostages remain in Gaza, but Israel has confirmed that at least 32 of those hostages are no longer alive.  Throughout the more than four months that have passed since thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel on October 7 and raped, mutilated, tortured, burned and murdered their way through Israeli communities, kidnapping more than 240 hostages and dragging them into the terror tunnels of Gaza, and killing more than 1,200 mostly civilians, including babies and the elderly, the ICRC has refused to play any role in helping the hostages in any way, including basic ICRC obligations such as visiting them to check on their physical condition — many hostages were severely injured by the terrorists, when they were taken hostage — and bringing them medication.

Media Omit Criticism, Glorify the Red Cross's Role Amid Israel-Hamas War.  Two stories on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)'s handling of the Israel-Hamas war deserved coverage last week:  Comments on the situation in Gaza by the organization's head and the filing of a lawsuit against it over its failure to help Israeli hostages.  Unfortunately, major news agencies echoed the former but were completely silent on the latter.  This selective omission focused all attention on the plight of Palestinians in Gaza at the expense of the suffering of Israelis held hostage by Hamas.  This view was further promoted by two factors:  The media's blindness to the Red Cross's responsibility for the Israeli hostages and the glorification of the organization's humanitarian role.

Deceitful Red Cross Lectures Parents of Israeli Hostage.  The Red Cross has had a difficult time over the last decade or so as questions concerning its accounting procedures have lingered.  Now, it is under scrutiny again over its handling of certain aspects of the Israel and Hamas conflict.  Ron and Simona are the parents of Doron Steinbrecher.  Doron was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, under terrifying circumstances.  On that day, Ron and Simona saw terrorists on their way to the area where Doron lived.  Their daughter called them, but the call was suddenly dropped.  Her last voicemail to her parents was saying, "they caught me, they caught me, they caught me."  Yesterday it was reported by the Jerusalem Post that Doron needs medication that, until her kidnapping, she took on a daily basis.  Earlier in the week, Her parents were invited to a meeting with the Red Cross, which they believed would finally transfer her medication.  Instead, they were lectured by representatives there and were told "think about the Palestinian side, It's hard for the Palestinians, they're being bombed."

Warning: every dollar you donate to the Red Cross is bringing America to her knees.  Recently, The Daily Caller published a bombshell story involving The Red Cross that should've gotten a lot more attention than it did.  That's why it was great to see respected filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza discussing the scandal on his podcast recently.  So, it turns out that The Red Cross is actually helping illegals make their way into the United States.  The Daily Caller piece claims The Red Cross is passing out "pamphlets" to migrants in Mexico, who are making their way over illegally.

The Red Cross is giving immigrants detailed maps showing them where to cross the border into the United States.  Now, nominally you could argue that the map isn't facilitating illegal immigration; rather, it just shows migrants the points where they can gain legal, above-the-board entry into the U.S.  But, I mean, come on.  What do we think this detailed, routed, resource-intensive map is actually for?

Red Cross Packets Show Migrants Where To Cross The US Border.  The American Red Cross has maps and guides for migrants to make the dangerous journeys to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to documents exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.  The map, which is part of a packet stamped with the International Committee of the Red Cross and American Red Cross logos, shows a list of resources, including hotels, clinics and shelters where migrants can get support in Mexico and Central America.  The maps include clearly defined lines leading to cities along the U.S. border.  The organization also has a guide to "self care" along the journey, which includes tips on how to survive the desert and disease, how to safely jump on trains, and how to obtain contraceptives.

Report: Red Cross Spent 25 Percent Of Haiti Donations On Internal Expenses.  The American Red Cross spent a quarter of the money people donated after the 2010 Haiti earthquake — or almost $125 million — on its own internal expenses, far more than the charity previously had disclosed, according to a report released Thursday by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.  The report also says the charity's top officials stonewalled congressional investigators and released incomplete information about its Haiti program to the public.  It concludes "there are substantial and fundamental concerns about [the Red Cross] as an organization."

Somewhat related:  The Red Cross yields to pressure from the Muslims:
Red Cross Demands Branches Remove Crucifixes to Be More Secular.  Volunteers have criticised the Red Cross charity after receiving a communication telling them to remove crucifixes from the walls of their branches as the organisation looks to become more secular.  The Belgian branches of the international aid organisation received an email from the Provincial Committee of the Red Cross in Liège to remove all crucifixes. [...] Several volunteers spoke to Belgian broadcaster RTL and expressed hostility to the move, with one saying:  "Let things remain as they are.  We used to say 'Christmas holidays', now it's 'winter holidays'.  The Christmas market in Brussels has become the 'Winter Pleasures'."  "For a certain part of the population — because of the Muslims — the crosses were removed in the Red Cross houses and, more particularly, in that of Verviers," the volunteer added.

Red Cross: $6 million for Ebola fight stolen through fraud.  Fraud by Red Cross workers and others wasted more than $6 million meant to fight the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the organization confirmed Saturday [11/4/2017].

A black eye for the Red Cross.  My grandfather, who rarely talked about his World War II service, recalled how the women of the Red Cross let enlisted men languish while plying chocolate and cigarettes on officers.  After Katrina, the group raised a fortune in part by promoting an emergency number those in need could call.  It rang endlessly, since they didn't get around to finding people to answer the supposed hotline.  I saw firsthand their workers at Ground Zero racing to be first on the scene when news cameras arrived as the group kept raising money off of 9/11 long after they knew they wouldn't be spending it here.  Surely plenty of Red Cross volunteers and workers did honorable work, but I didn't see them.  After the earthquake in Haiti, the Red Cross raised half a billion dollars, with little sign of any of it being put to good use there.  After Sandy, I again saw firsthand the group's feeble but TV-friendly efforts.  Later, ProPublica reported that 40% of the charity's available trucks were diverted from delivering help to serving as backdrops for news conferences.  After Isaac, one driver reported that Red Cross trucks, supposedly filled with relief supplies, drove around empty, so it would look like they were delivering help.

Here's Why Haitians Are Urging You Not To Donate To The Red Cross.  As the death toll in Haiti following Hurricane Matthew reaches 1,000 and 1.4 million people are left "in need of humanitarian assistance," reports of deadly cholera outbreaks are beginning to concern aid groups.  But despite the desperate pleas for help coming from the hurricane-torn island nation, some Haitians are not thrilled about the presence of scandal-ridden organizations such as the American Red Cross (ARC) — or even the Clinton Foundation — in their country.  Thanks to a 2015 report exposing ARC for its poor management of Haiti-bound donations, Haitians like Facebook user French Francois have been urging the public to steer clear from the 135-year-old foundation.  Instead, she wants individuals willing to help to reach out to Haitian organizations instead.

How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti and Built Six Homes.  In late 2011, the Red Cross launched a multimillion-dollar project to transform the desperately poor area, which was hit hard by the earthquake that struck Haiti the year before.  The main focus of the project — called LAMIKA, an acronym in Creole for "A Better Life in My Neighborhood" — was building hundreds of permanent homes.  Today, not one home has been built in Campeche.  Many residents live in shacks made of rusty sheet metal, without access to drinkable water, electricity or basic sanitation.  When it rains, their homes flood and residents bail out mud and water.  The Red Cross received an outpouring of donations after the quake, nearly half a billion dollars.

The Secretive American Red Cross.  According to ProPublica in a newly-published article:  "Just how badly does the American Red Cross want to keep secret how it raised and spent over $300 million after Hurricane Sandy?  The charity has hired a fancy law firm to fight a public request we filed with New York state, arguing that information about its Sandy activities is a 'trade secret'...  As we've reported, the Red Cross releases few details about how it spends money after big disasters.  That makes it difficult to figure out whether donor dollars are well spent.  The Red Cross did give some information about Sandy spending to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who had been investigating the charity.  But the Red Cross declined our request to disclose the details."

Red Cross Fires Administrators in New Orleans.  In a major shake-up of its relief operations in New Orleans, the American Red Cross dismissed two key supervisors yesterday [3/24/2006] as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into the improper diversion of relief supplies after Hurricane Katrina, a Red Cross official said.

Red Cross cash 'wasted' on stars.  The American Red Cross has come under fire over payments to publicists who recruited stars to add lustre to its image, even as funds ran short for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Millions of Katrina aid wasted, review finds.  In the Justice Department probe, the largest investigation centered on a Red Cross call center in Bakersfield, California, in which some employees schemed to steal the emergency money for themselves and others, prosecutors said. Fifty-three people have been charged in this probe.

Tsunami Relief:  Reconsider the Red Cross.  Laurie Morrow, hostess of a conservative talk radio show in Vermont, cautions against giving your money to Red Cross.  Part of her discontent is with Red Cross's behavior following 9/11.  In November of 2001, "Red Cross officials decided, without the knowledge or consent of most of the donors, that better use of this money could be made than distributing it among the victims.  Acting as if the $564 million were the Red Cross's money rather than donors' money entrusted to them for distribution, the officials decided to spend the money as they saw fit, regardless of the donors' intentions.  They planned to distribute only about 1/3 of the Fund to the victims of September 11th.  $264 million of the $564 million would be set aside for vaguely defined "long-term effects of the disaster."

Related article:  American Red Double Cross.  Six weeks after the September 11 attacks, the Liberty Fund, set up by the American Red Cross, had filled up with a staggering $505 million from average Americans, but the ARC appeared reluctant to disperse the funds.

Pre-Katrina controversy:
Red Cross caught red-handed.  Get a Refund!  If you donated to the Red Cross in hopes it would help the WTC victims… they didn't get it!

Is the Red Cross Too Politically Correct for Christians?  Michael Hartman worked with the American Red Cross for eight months before he was fired over his disagreement with an organizational decision to celebrate gay and lesbian pride month.  The firing raises questions about the direction of the relief organization, which was founded by Christians, including Clara Barton, in 1881.

As Its Coffers Swell, Red Cross Is Criticized on Gulf Coast Response.  Time and again in past disasters, the Red Cross has raised more money than it has needed for relief.  It has also been less than clear in the past about where its money goes, and it has rarely shared its money with other organizations that tackle long-term needs of victims.

The Red Cross money pit.  With Hurricane Rita now making news, it's time for Americans to take a more disciplined look at their tremendous generosity.  As of last week, the American Red Cross reported that it had raised $826 million in private funds for Hurricane Katrina victims. … I doubt each victim under Red Cross care will see more than a doughnut, an interview with a social worker and a short-term voucher for a cheap motel….
[Viewing the entire article requires registration.]

Red Cross Donations are Wasted in Africa.  To argue these people, aid agencies, pop stars and celebrity publicists didn't know the profound mess they are causing is a nonsense.  They stand accused of knowing exactly what they were doing, the effects their actions would have in ratcheting the numbers up, and therefore the fact a percentage factor of Africans would die as a result.

 Editor's Note:   Personally, I would recommend a donation to the Salvation Army instead.  Here's why:

Salvation Army giving $155M to hurricane victims in Mississippi and Louisiana.  The Salvation Army has announced a $155 million program to provide housing and other assistance to hurricane victims now living in Mississippi and Louisiana.  The program is the second phase of the Salvation Army's $362 million hurricane recovery effort.

Years later...
Democratic lawmaker back from Haiti says Red Cross nowhere to be found.  Donors should think twice before giving money to the Red Cross for earthquake relief in Haiti, a Democratic lawmaker said.  Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who traveled to Haiti with Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) earlier this week, said Thursday [4/8/2010] the internationally renowned relief group was nowhere to be found in Haiti.

Red Cross defends aid to Taliban.  The international Red Cross said Wednesday [5/26/2010] it would continue giving first aid training and kits to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, despite drawing angry e-mails from around the world and criticism from an Afghan official after the practice was publicized.

Red Cross Runs Campaign-Like Ad Featuring Obama.  On Friday night, swing-voters across the nation saw a one-minute advertisement paid for by the Red Cross featuring President Barack Obama.  The ad comes on the weekend before the election, and while the Red Cross does unquestionable good for millions of Americans, the choice to run this ad comes noticeably close to a campaign endorsement for President Obama.

Was Obama's Red Cross Ad Designed to Dodge FEC Rules?  An ad featuring President Obama released last week appears to have been produced with taxpayer funds, allowing President Obama to reach out to television viewers without adhering to strict federal disclosure rules for political ads. [...] No Federal Election Commission disclosure of who paid for the message was included in the commercial, although [Ron] Meyer noted clear parallels between the PSA script and President Obama's stump speech.

The Red Cross' Secret Disaster.  The Red Cross botched key elements of its mission after Sandy and Isaac, leaving behind a trail of unmet needs and acrimony, according to an investigation by ProPublica and NPR.  The charity's shortcomings were detailed in confidential reports and internal emails, as well as accounts from current and former disaster relief specialists.

In Search Of The Red Cross' $500 Million In Haiti Relief.  When a devastating earthquake leveled Haiti in 2010, millions of people donated to the American Red Cross.  The charity raised almost half a billion dollars.  It was one of its most successful fundraising efforts ever.  The American Red Cross vowed to help Haitians rebuild, but after five years the Red Cross' legacy in Haiti is not new roads, or schools, or hundreds of new homes.  It's difficult to know where all the money went.

Cop says Red Cross told him not to pray with flood victims.  A law enforcement officer said he was asked to leave a Red Cross shelter in Lafayette, Louisiana after he prayed with several flood victims.  Clay Higgins, a reserve city marshal and a local legend, dropped by after work to minister to evacuees at the Heymann Performing Arts Center on Aug. 19.  "I was not proselytizing," he told me.  "I was just there to thank volunteers and offer prayers and encouragement."  Higgins, who is also running for Congress, was dressed in uniform and was holding a Bible.

An Example of International Red Cross Hypocrisy.  INGOs are exceedingly powerful in that they control, guide and often directly inform the media about the areas in which they operate.  They control the information we get.  They facilitate access for the journalists.  And usually they focus in two or three big current crises, but the donations they receive are so big that they support their offices around the world where they mostly stand idle.

In Search Of The Red Cross' $500 Million In Haiti Relief.  When a devastating earthquake leveled Haiti in 2010, millions of people donated to the American Red Cross.  The charity raised almost half a billion dollars.  It was one of its most successful fundraising efforts ever.  The American Red Cross vowed to help Haitians rebuild, but after five years the Red Cross' legacy in Haiti is not new roads, or schools, or hundreds of new homes.  It's difficult to know where all the money went.

'The response of the Red Cross has been lamentable'.  One month ago, the massively powerful winds, rain, and floodwaters of Superstorm Sandy devastated much of New York and New Jersey, killing 60 in the region and causing more than $62 billion in damage.  In the aftermath of the storm, relief groups offered their aid, but many have blasted the Red Cross for being absent in the areas hit hardest by the storm.

Red Cross spent $181,000 to put up Sandy relief workers in Manhattan's upscale Soho Grand hotel.  Representatives from American Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) said that the two agencies booked a total of 48 rooms in the upscale SoHo Grand to house some of the relief workers at a discounted nightly rate of $310 a room.

American Red Cross Fined $9.6 Million for Unsafe Blood Collection.  The American Red Cross, the largest supplier of donated blood in the U.S., was fined $9.6 million after federal inspectors found hundreds of blood safety violations at 16 of the organization's 36 blood collection centers nationwide.  In a 32-page letter to the Washington-based organization, Food and Drug Administration officials describe an all-encompassing lack of controls to ensure the safety of the nation's blood supply.

American Red Double Cross:  With a Liberty Fund already filled with a staggering $505 million from average Americans, the ARC has been reluctant to disperse the funds.

Update:
Red Cross caught red-handed.  Get a Refund!  If you donated to the Red Cross in hopes it would help the WTC victims… they didn't get it!

The neutral politics of the Red Cross:  Somewhere along the way, the Red Cross came out of the field to sit at the table and began taking on the role of rhetoric, seeming no longer content with its long-held status as trusted and neutral guardian of the Geneva conventions around the world.  Indeed, in its self-styled role as a critic of the United States, the Red Cross is giving plenty of competition to the anti-American United Nations.  Its new role is surely most welcome among the anti-war contingent.

Red Cross demands Mid-East action.  The International Committee of the Red Cross has called for immediate political action to contain the "deep crisis" in the West Bank and Gaza.  The statement was an unusual departure from its normally non-political stance.  The ICRC said the measures imposed by Israel had denied the Palestinian population the right to live a normal and dignified life.

Red Cross says global warming caused record disasters in 2007.  Global warming caused a record number of natural disasters across the world in 2007, up nearly 20 percent from a year earlier, the International Federation of the Red Cross said on Thursday [12/13/2007].  "As of 10 October 2007, the Federation had already recorded 410 disasters, 56 percent of which were weather-related, which is consistent with the trend of rising numbers of climate change-related disasters," the IFRC said in its "World Disasters Report".

Red Cross says changing climate worsens disasters.  Climate change is making it harder for many people to access clean water and food, and widening the spread of malaria and dengue fever, the world's largest humanitarian aid agency said on Monday [1/21/2008].  The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is asking donors for $292 million per year for 2008 and 2009 to help communities steel themselves for the threats of global warming.

The International Red Cross' War Against Israel.  For nearly four decades, many in the international community have insisted that Jews are forbidden to live in Judea, Samaria, Gaza (Yesha), "eastern Jerusalem," and the Golan — areas conquered by Israel in 1967.  Leading this fight was and is a private Swiss organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).  The ICRC was the first international organization to charge that "the presence of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories is contrary to the Geneva Convention," and therefore "unlawful."

Somewhat related:
Democratic lawmaker back from Haiti says Red Cross nowhere to be found.  Donors should think twice before giving money to the Red Cross for earthquake relief in Haiti, a Democratic lawmaker said.  Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who traveled to Haiti with Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) earlier this week, said Thursday [4/8/2010] the internationally renowned relief group was nowhere to be found in Haiti.

Red Cross defends aid to Taliban.  The international Red Cross said Wednesday [5/26/2010] it would continue giving first aid training and kits to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, despite drawing angry e-mails from around the world and criticism from an Afghan official after the practice was publicized.

Red Cross Runs Campaign-Like Ad Featuring Obama.  On Friday night, swing-voters across the nation saw a one-minute advertisement paid for by the Red Cross featuring President Barack Obama.  The ad comes on the weekend before the election, and while the Red Cross does unquestionable good for millions of Americans, the choice to run this ad comes noticeably close to a campaign endorsement for President Obama.




Document location http://akdart.com/rc.html
Updated March 13, 2024.

©2024 by Andrew K. Dart