The matter of the Crusades is ultimately beside the point. The Islamic aversion to the cross and what it stands for in Christianity is what is truly at issue, and preceded the Crusades by several centuries. By the precedent set in the Pact of Umar, dhimmis are not allowed to display crosses publicly, regardless of color.
Israel has endured a great deal of wrangling over its right to use a red Star of David as its official symbol for aid missions under the auspices of the ICRC. In the U.K., however, a Labour minister offers a pre-emptive act of dhimmitude, suggesting the replacement of the cross with a neutral “crystal” that wouldn’t be so allegedly offensive. There is also talk of the crystal replacing the Red Crescent as well, but that talk seems to be limited to organizations not using the crescent. If this idea gains traction, one foreseeable outcome would be the Western switchover to the crystal, while the crescent stays the same. And of course, it is also telling that the chief selling point here is the desire not to offend Muslims.
“Calls for Red Cross symbol to be axed over links to the Crusades,” by Michael Lea for the Daily Mail, June 10 (thanks to Leal):
A Labour minister has sparked controversy by claiming that an alternative symbol is needed for the Red Cross because of the logo’s supposed links to the Crusades.
Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant said that the historic emblem risked undermining the work of the humanitarian organisation.
His intervention came as MPs debated the adoption of the ‘red crystal’ – a diamond-shaped badge – to avoid the religious connotations of the cross and crescent symbols currently used by the international body.
But critics said the new insignia was a sop to political correctness and warned that it may be the first step towards it replacing cross and crescent. Others fear that it may not be as widely recognised on the battlefield.
‘It is, in an effort not to be contentious, possibly too anodyne to serve its purpose,’ Tory MP John Hayes said.
Philip Davies, a Tory backbencher, said: ‘At face value to the layman it seems at best a solution looking for a problem and at worst another example of extreme political correctness.
‘No one has ever suggested to me that the Red Cross refers to the Crusades.’
Shadow Foreign Office minister David Lidington said that use of the crystal over the cross by the British military should ‘be the exception rather than be allowed to become the norm’.
Tory Oliver Heald said the Red Cross symbol was widely recognised and counselled caution that ‘we are careful not to undermine that’.
‘There is also a risk of confusion with many different symbols, and that terrorists may exploit that to mask themselves when carrying out attacks,’ he added….