Still no Justice for Rachel Corrie (Cry Me a River Alert!)

Seattle PI, via Palestine Chronicle ^ | January 23, 2004 | Wendly Smith

[PeaceCorpsGuy]

Still No Justice for Rachel Corrie - Smith --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, January 23 2004 @ 12:57 PM EST

"It is an insult to the human heart to have to force government officials to do their jobs properly while digesting the fact your child has been brutally killed .."

By WENDY SMITH

Tom Hurndall, a 22-year-old British peace activist, died last week in a London hospital. He was shot in the head by Israeli sniper fire nine months ago while shepherding Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip out of the line of fire. He had been in a coma since his injury. Hours before Hurndall died, the soldier who shot him was charged with aggravated assault. The charge is now likely to be revised to manslaughter or murder; British police are participating in an official investigation of his death.

Rachel Corrie from Olympia was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Rafah refugee camp about a month before Hurndall was shot there. Like Hurndall, Corrie was a volunteer with the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation of Palestine (ISM). Like Hurndall, she was killed by an identifiable Israeli soldier. As in Hurndall's case, the Israeli government initially released a report on Corrie's killing, stating that nobody connected with the Israeli military was culpable and that further investigation was not required.

So, why has Hurndall's killer been charged when nothing has happened to Corrie's killer?

According to the Hurndall family, the only reason the soldier who shot him has been charged is because of pressure applied by the family. Hurndall's father is an attorney. He went to Rafah shortly after the shooting and compiled an extensive dossier of eyewitness affidavits, forensics reports, photographs and other relevant information. This dossier was put before the British foreign secretary in a way that made it very difficult to ignore. Ultimately, the British government went to bat for Hurndall, an unarmed British civilian killed by an Israeli soldier under the impression that he could shoot with impunity.

Indeed, the soldier had good reason to believe this. More than 2,000 unarmed Palestinian civilians, many of them children, have been killed in the occupied territories since the current intifada began in September 2000. Only 10 Israeli soldiers have been indicted and none has been convicted. A culture of impunity permeates the Israeli military, which is well known for its non-investigations of itself. For this reason, the Hurndall family would like to see the investigation of his death extend all the way up the chain of command.

Corrie's parents are not lawyers. In addition, they were told by members of the Washington state congressional delegation and State Department officials that if they quietly played along, justice for their daughter would ultimately be achieved. So far, all that has emerged is a non-credible Israeli military report claiming that 1) Corrie was not run over by a bulldozer and 2) even if she had been, the driver could not have seen her. These statements are contradicted respectively by the autopsy report and multiple eyewitness reports.

It is an insult to the human heart to have to force government officials to do their jobs properly while digesting the fact your child has been brutally killed.

Somehow the Hurndall family was able to take the necessary steps in the timeframe required. Believing what their congressman, senators and State Department officials told them, the Corries have been left to swallow lies.

Is this the best our members of Congress can do for a citizen killed abroad? Plenty of them made pretty speeches but real action is a question of political will.

About the author: Wendy Smith of Seattle is an activist with the Seattle Palestine Solidarity Committee.

Source: The Seattle PI

[KC_Conspirator]

If you can take this one-sided, biased account seriously than we are not going get anywhere in a discussion.

[Prodigal Son]

You know, I didn't even read this article. I just read the comments.

I've read better sources for the British guy's death.

I just don't think we should 'bandwagon' all these deaths.

I give a spit about Rachel Corrie. She was an idiot.

But given the accounts of how the other chap died, what he did sounds like something I would do in a similar sitation.

[reagan_fanatic]

[KC_Conspirator]

I agree that we can't bandwagon all the deaths. The thing that puts my antennae up is when you have someone citing Rachel Corrie and then linking this guy. We have seen Corrie and her ilk in the press and its clear that they are hate-America filth, with anti-western views. Some even have a tinge of anti-semitism.

At any rate, I find that the rhetoric that this guy was doing it "for the children" specious.

[Prodigal Son]

BTW, I'm not throwing down any judgements. War is ugly.

This following link is propaganda- I'm fairly sure of that. I don't know if the tape has been doctored or not. But it's something to look at and it makes you think. I don't judge any of those guys. I wasn't on the ground, I don't know the situation. I refuse to judge. But it makes you realize, war is an ugly thing.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5365.htm

[Prodigal Son]

At any rate, I find that the rhetoric that this guy was doing it "for the children" specious.

But according to the accounts I've seen, that's exactly what he was doing.

It's not always clear cut.

[SJackson]

One problem with your comparison, that bulldozer WASN'T in Israel...

Nonsense, even here associates acknowledge the incident took place in the security zone alongside the Gaza border which has been under Israeli control since the "peace" with Egypt.

[SJackson]

Thanks, missed this one.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[philosofy123]

Did you have the same attitude with Chinese tank approching the young and foolish student in Tienmen Square, China? The poor girl is dead, and now it is very insensitive to be cheering her death :-(

[Redcloak]

Act now to receive your own Rachel Corrie commemorative wristwatch! Available in two styles...

Regular

...and "distressed".

[Modernman]

Still No Justice for Rachel Corrie - Smith

She got the justice she deserved.

[Prodigal Son]

Also, important- you should read the transcript that comes with that tape. It's done by Candy Crowley of CNN. A reputable source. The story itself is a lot bigger than those few seconds of tape.

[weegee]

"Why oh why won't the United States Congress put pressure on Israel over the death of this ANTIAMERICAN agitator?"

[thoughtomator]

What's your human standard then? Free pass for anyone who kills a Jew? Any behavior justified to that end? 'Cause that's what little Miss Corrie got killed doing, defending the home of a murderer, advocating the cause of Islamic genocidal expansionism.

[KC_Conspirator]

I have seen pics of Corrie around here firing up palestinian children while burning an Isreali flag. Not my idea of "childcare".

[TC Rider]

Silly guy, she was not killed for her ideological background, she was killed by stepping in front of an armored bulldozer in a blind spot.

Most bulldozer drivers assume that you step out of the way, not into the way. Human wheel chock does not work for cars, why would it work for bulldozers?

I recall reading the story from one of her comrades. They were playing 'chicken'. They would jump on the dirt rolling up in front of the blade, then jump off again.

Po, po, little Rachel wasn't very good at jumping off.

[Prodigal Son]

Well, I've already said I think Corrie was an idiot.

And while I'm sure she thought she was doing a noble thing, I think standing in front of a bulldozer to the point that it kills you is pretty stupid- especially if you weren't actively trying to save someone's life by doing so. Like that guy back in the 80's who sat down on the train track and let the train run over him because the train was carrying nuclear material. Lost both his legs right there on television news. And for what?

But if you watch that video clip, you realize that things do, in fact, happen that are not so black and white. Not so cut and dry.

[Rocky Mountain High]

Did you mourn for Mohammed Atta?
I mean, gee, the poor guy died in a plane crash...

[wizardoz]

He was shot in the head by Israeli sniper fire nine months ago while shepherding Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip out of the line of fire.

Yeah, I just bet that's what he was doing. Probably saved some puppies too, right?