Rachel Corrie: Scattered, smothered & covered.
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
Posted on 03/05/2004 12:35:22 AM PST by yonif
ATLANTA, Georgia Only a year ago, the month of March would have held the same positive associations for me as it has for many - the beginning of the end of winter, the promise of springtime and even summer. This year, and for every year for the rest of my life, the approach of March will mean something else entirely - the anniversary of the brutal death of my cousin, Rachel Corrie.
On March 16, 2003, an Israeli soldier and his commander ran over Rachel with a nine-ton Caterpillar bulldozer while she stood - unarmed, clearly visible in her orange fluorescent jacket - protecting a Palestinian home slated for demolition by the Israeli army.
The death of Rachel Corrie, and the response that her case has - and has not - received, reveal several disturbing, indeed immoral and criminal, truths.
First, Rachel died while attempting to prevent the demolition of a home, a common practice of the Israeli Army's collective punishment that has left more than 12,000 Palestinians homeless since the beginning of the second uprising in September 2000. This practice violates international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Second, Rachel was run over by a Caterpillar bulldozer, manufactured in the United States and sent to Israel as part of the regular U.S. aid package to Israel, which amounts to $3 billion to $4 billion annually, all of it from U.S. taxpayers. The use of Caterpillar bulldozers to destroy civilian homes, not to mention to run over unarmed human rights activists, violates U.S. law, including the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, which prohibits the use of military aid against civilians.
Third, the self-acquittal of the Israeli army for Rachel's death and the resistance of the state of Israel to an independent investigation into this case reveals both the Sharon administration's unwillingness to take responsibility for the death of a U.S. citizen and the Bush administration's cowardice in allowing another nation to attack U.S. citizens with impunity.
Fourth, Rachel's death was in fact only the first of several Israeli attacks on foreign citizens in the West Bank and Gaza. Brian Avery, from New Mexico, was shot in the face on April 5; Tom Hurndall, a British citizen, was shot in the head on April 11 and died Jan. 13, and James Miller, another British citizen, was also shot and killed in April. To date, only in Hurndall's case will the Israeli soldier responsible for the attack face trial, and this is because the British government, after several months, finally responded to the overwhelming evidence presented by the Hurndall family.
As we approach March 16, residents and citizens of the United States should ask themselves how it is that an unarmed U.S. citizen can be killed with impunity by a soldier from an allied nation receiving massive U.S. aid, using a product manufactured in the United States by a U.S. corporation and paid for with U.S. tax dollars. When three Americans were killed, presumably by Palestinians, in an explosion on Oct. 15, 2003, as they traveled through Gaza, the FBI came within 24 hours to investigate the deaths. After one year, neither the FBI nor any other U.S.-led team has done anything to investigate the death of an American killed by an Israeli.
Why the double standard? Perhaps this reveals the most disturbing truth of all.
Elizabeth Corrie is an administrator and teacher in a school in Atlanta.
Rachel Corrie: Scattered, smothered & covered.
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
The end of winter can often leave people feeling flat and run-down.
According to your screen name, you're NOT a person, you're a CYBORG! ;)
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A note about posting to the Peace & Justice Calendar
Howdy folks- I'm happy to say postings for the peace & justice calendar continue to pour in- so spread the word. Get people to sign up and send in material on events (currently we restrict the calendar to events, excluding action alerts, for the sake of brevity).
One request- to those of you sending in material. It is very helpful if it is in the format, or close to it, that I use in the calendar. Fancy flyers, especially PDFs, make compiling the calendar much more time consuming- and in a pinch things might not make it up.
Calendar deadlines: Sunday before the week you want it to run.
Peace, Beth
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September 17th Peace & Justice Calendar
Featured Event:
SILENCING DISSENT IN THE AGE OF THE PATRIOT ACT
Saturday, September 20, 2:30-4:30 p.m
Speakers Auditorium, Georgia State Student Center (44 Courtland Street)
Speakers:
CYNTHIA MCKINNEY: Former 4th District Georgia Congresswoman, staunch advocate of civil liberties and human rights.
ROBERT JENSEN: Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas and author of "Writing Dissent, Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream"
ELIZABETH CORRIE: Educator in the field of Ethics and Religion, and active with the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Justice and Peace (Rachel Corrie was the American citizen killed by an Israeli soldier during a peaceful protest)
LAILA AL-ARIAN: Daughter of Imprisioned Palestinian Professor Dr. Sami Al-Arian who is currently being denied his right to a fair trial, held on charges of supporting terrorism.
KELLIE GASINK: Coordinator of the National Coalition to Repeal the USA Patriot Act. Expert on the legal issues and the movement to repeal the Patriot Act
For more info contact: aps at atlanta4palestine.org
Sponsored by: Atlanta Palestine Solidarity, International Action Center, Minority Graduate Student Alliance, Refuse & Resist Atlanta, All African People's Revolutionary Party, Not in Our Name/Atlanta, Greater Atlanta Bill of Rights Defense Committee, AUC Peace, Solidarity, Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, The National Coalition to Repeal the USA Patriot Act, CAIR-N/GA, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee-GAchapter
I'm not sure whether to feel embarrassed about finding that so funny, or to continue laughing.
Very creative.
Oh, where to begin?
1) Unarmed or armed is irrelevant, as she was there to prevent a sovereign, free nation from defending herself and her citizens from slaughter.
2) That nation was well within its rights to defend itself. What was the IDF supposed to do? Drop carefully made plans for defense just because some spoiled brat from another country wants to play revolutionary? Perhaps the Corries should have taught their child the story of Lori Berenson and what happens to pampered rich kids who want an "adventure" in mingling with the third-world savages.
3) The Americans who were killed by so-called palis were there on official business and were slaughtered by islamofascist terrorists. They were not accidentally killed while trying to interfere with a nation's right to defend itself.
Oh, and
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