I've been reading about Rachel Corrie, the American activist killed March 16 in Rafah, Gaza Strip by an Israeli military bulldozer. She was in the Gaza Strip as a member of the International Solidarity Movement, a Palistinian organization that organizes non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation. She was attempting to save a Palestinian family's house from demolition by using her "white person privilege" by placing her body in front of the bulldozer. Corrie's parents have released emails she sent them from Gaza. They provide a stark picture of life there and an explanation of why and what she was doing there.Corrie is the first American activist to be killed defending human rights in Palestine, but not the first person to die there from a bulldozer. The Israeli army regularly demolishes homes of Palestineans with armed bulldozers. Just two weeks earlier an Israeli bulldozer killed Nuha Sweidan, a nine-month pregnant Palestinian women. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, in the past month Israeli assaults have killed 82 Palestinians and have wounded an additional 616. These killings are the result of an escalation of Israeli military assaults on civilians. Military attacks like these are a direct violation of International law.
This occurs on the eve of a war with Iraq. In his address to the nation Monday night, Bush stated, "The United States, with other countries, will work to advance liberty and peace in that region [the Middle East]." If the U.S. government was really interested in working to advance liberty and peace in the Middle East, they would end their support of the Israeli military, demand an investigation into Israeli war crimes (such as the death of Rachel Corrie and the massacres that occurred in Jenin and Nablus last year), demand an end to the the occupation of Palestine, and support the immediate creation of a Palestinian State.
Related sites:
Related articles:
- Rachel Corrie's Echo (The Nation weblog, March 20, 2003)
- Four eyewitnesses describe the murder of Rachel Corrie (The Electronic Intifada, March 19, 2003)
- Rachel Corrie: a victim of Israeli policy and US complicity (World Socialist Web Site, March 19, 2003)
- Killing of Rachel Corrie condemned around the world (World Socialist Web Site, March 19, 2003)
- A tribute to Rachel Corrie, US student murdered by Israeli military (World Socialist Web Site, March 19, 2003)
- Rachel's war (The Guardian (U.K.). March 18, 2003)
- Israeli Army Bulldozer Kills American in Gaza (New York Times, March 17, 2003)
- Another Death in Palestine (Wiretap, March 17, 2003)
- Rachel Corrie, Nuha Sweidan and Israeli War Crimes (The Electronic Intifada, March 17, 2003)
- Amnesty International Condemns Killing of Rachel Corrie (BBSNews, March 17, 2003)
- Rachel Corrie's Last Happy Moment in Gaza before Her Death (BBSNews, March 17, 2003)
- American Student Rachel Corrie Killed in Rafah, Gaza Strip (BBSNews, March 17, 2003)
- Photo story: Israeli bulldozer driver murders American peace activist (The Electronic Intifada, March 16, 2003)
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